Evening star., 1940-09-27
Worker Shortage
Holds Plane Industry
To Part-Time Basis
Foremen, Supervisors
Lacking to Run Plants
"a Hours q Day

Lacking to Run Plants
~ Hours q Day
Believing that quantity produc-
ton OF combat dirpl1nes at the
edrlietS possible moment Is the
key to American security. as ,Dell
as the greatest contribution this
Nation can make to Great Brit
ain under the policy OF all aid
short OF ,Ddr," The Star has un-
dertaken surrey to determine
the state OF affairs in the Ameri-
can aircraft industry. This is the
second of a series OF articles based
on these studies.
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON.
1t was pointed out in the open
ing article of this series that the
United States aircraft factories to-
day are working only 81 to rs per
cent of the available time each
week on Warplane production and
are idle from one-quarter to one
third of each week.
One of the chief reasons for
plants and equipment standing idle
while defense leaders are crying for
speedy production of combat air.
planes. according to leaders of the
aviation industry, is shortage of
trained workers, particularly in the
grades of foremen and supervisors.
1t is estimated by the Aeronauti-
cal Chamber of Commerce, trade
organization of the aircraft manu-
featuring industry, that a total Of
350,000 workers must be obtained
to put aircraft manufacturing plant
facilities already in existence into
full-time operation: "a hours day,
seven days a week.
Only 125,00O Workers.
Today there are only 125,000
workers actually employed in this
country in the manufacturing of
airplanes and engines. This total
represents an increase of more than
100 per cent in a little more than
year since Anglo-French orders for
fighting planes inaugurated the eX-
pansion program which has been in
progress continuously since that
time.
Of these 125.OOO employees it is
estimated by officials of the Aero
nautical Chamber that 25 per cent,
or about $1,000, are in the training
stage, either to handle the special
types of machine tools used in the
plants or to At themselves for pro-
motion into the management
group
1t is chiefly in the ranks of fore
men and supervisors, however, that
the shortage is being felt today,
according to officials of some of the
foremost manufacturing companies.
particularly such companies as the
Boeing Aircraft Corp, Seattle, and
the Douglas Aircraft Co., Santa
Monica, Calf.
Working Overtime Hours.
There are not enough foremen
to supervise the operations of three
shifts day in some of the larger
plants, even though most of the
supervisory personnel in the indus
try now is working long overtime
hours.
The result is that where the two
and one-half shift" basis is in effect
the third shift is working only four
or five hours on cleanup" opera
tions, which do not require maxi
mum skill or supervision. Such op-
erations may be of a type which
any qualified mechanic can per-
form with only ordinary super
vision. Or they may be the produc-
ton of parts, which, because of
shortage of certain types of ma
chine tools. are not turned out as
fast as other parts, tending to throw
production out of balance.
Generally in the industry today
the third shift is half shift" op-
Grated not so much with the pur-
pose of keeping up full production
throughout the "a hours as it is to
compensate for uneven production
and to work out "bottlenecks" re-
sulting from too rapid expansion.
Trend to 24-Hour Day.
AS additional trained workmen,
foremen and supervisors become
available and critically needed types
of machine tools are built to even
out existing inequalities, it is prob
able the third shift will change
gradually into a production shift,
and that the trend will be toward a
24-hour working day.
Whether this trend can be real
lied, however, depends upon factors
other than the quality and quantity
of labor alone. These will be dis
cussed later.
Attention also will be given to
the possibility of drafting labor
from automobile factories or SINH
lar industries to fill gaps in the
aircaft factories and to the posi-
bility of forced Federal and State
training courses to provide me-
chanics, foremen and supervisors
more rapidly than is possible at
present.
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