Arnold AFB Contractor Asks for Voluntary Layoffs

ATA engineers took part in this test of engines for the Air Force’s A-10 “Warthog” aircraft. Photo courtesy of AEDC.

The main civilian contractor at Tullahoma’s Arnold Air Force Base is inviting employees to leave their jobs in hopes of avoiding forced layoffs.

Aerospace Testing Alliance, or ATA, employs more than 18-hundred civilians, roughly 90 percent of the base’s workforce.

The request for workers to step down comes as the Air Force begins to restructure its non-combat operations to save money. The leaders of Arnold’s Engineering and Development program now answer to officers at Edwards Air Force base in California, and the facility’s designation has changed from “center” to the lower-ranking “complex.”

In a statement, ATA General Manager Steve Pearson said it’s too early to know how many jobs will be cut overall, but expects to have a more concrete idea in the next month or so.