Lockheed Martin adjusts F-35 production schedules

Lockheed Martin is adjusting work schedules, maintaining specialized employee skill sets, and accelerating payments to vulnerable suppliers in response to F-35 supplier delays due to COVID-19.

“These are challenging times, but managing tough challenges is when the F-35 program performs at its best,” Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Executive Vice President Michele Evans said. “The alternate work schedule maintains the specialized skill set of the employees and provides opportunities for us to adjust our workflow to account for supplier delays due to COVID-19. Our F-35 workforce is the best in the world at what they do, and we will continue to deliver on our customer’s mission.”

The new schedule, which begins on May 23, divides each shift into three groups. Each group will work on rotation for two weeks and then will have a week off. During the adjusted three-week work schedule, employees who work 96 hours or more will be compensated an additional 24 hours for their off week while receiving full pay and benefits.

The temporary revision enables Lockheed Martin to staff the production line to meet a slower workflow resulting from supplier delays, officials said, providing a work rhythm retaining workforce expertise and opportunities to adjust work to better support production.