(8 of 9)
To put them to work, the Government will have to help retrain many of the jobless veterans of aerospace and help redirect others into different industries. Washington is doing little of that. Its unimaginative performance augurs poorly for the even larger conversion to peacetime that will come later. At M.I.T. and the University of California, HUD has opened about 25 cram courses to prepare technologists for public-service jobs. One of the few programs that provide extensive retraining is run at the University of California at Irvine, where participants study for a master's degree in environmental engineering. But only 34 people are taking the course.
Even before the SST vote, it was clear that government at all levels should be doing far more for retraining the displaced persons of aerospace. Having en couraged many of them to pursue narrowly technological careers in a patriotic enterprise, the nation's officials are all but duty-bound to provide a chance for them to use their skills. Last week's action in the Senate only strengthened that obligation by freeing SST funds for other purposes. Another reason the lawmakers should be eager to help: if aerospace unemployment becomes an overwhelming problem, there may be rising public pressure to reverse the decision against the SST and other projects.
Down to Earth
The companies, or at least those that worked on the SST, apparently have something coming from the Government. Under the Transportation Department's contract with Boeing, most of the private contractors' expenses are probably recoverable, though their hoped-for profits certainly are not. Boeing alone expects to collect $52 million from Washington. Since each of the big corporations still holds sizable Government contracts, there is a chance that all will survive, though some in considerably diminished form. Still, aerospace is a merger-prone industry, and it would not be surprising if Lockheed or some of the industry's larger subcontractors found shelter in some richer corporations. Says William McKee, former Federal Aviation Agency administrator: "The hard truth is that the country really doesn't have a requirement for several major commercial jet builders. The way the market is going, something's got to give."