Albany Reverses CH-53K Loss After Sikorsky Contract

The Tip Desk · November 8, 2026 · 2 min read

The company reversed a reach-forward loss it had flagged for the third quarter of 2025 and said the amended helicopter contract is expected to generate positive cash flow beginning in 2027.

Albany International Corp. (AIN) completed a strategic review of its Amelia Earhart Drive facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, reversed a previously announced reach-forward loss, and updated its outlook after an amended Sikorsky CH-53K helicopter contract, a Boeing 787 fuselage-frame contract extension, and new defense wins.

The engineered-components manufacturer said the amended Sikorsky agreement lets it continue its current production scope on the CH-53K with improved program financials. The company said the contract reduces program risk, generates positive cash flow, stabilizes 53K aircraft production, and offsets projected losses while maintaining support for Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company.

A year earlier, on October 28, 2025, Albany had said it was exploring strategic alternatives for its structures assembly business, including a potential sale of all or a part of the business at the Amelia Earhart Drive facility. It also said it expected to recognize an approximately $147 million loss reserve adjustment in the third quarter of 2025, primarily related to greater-than-planned labor content and higher material inputs due to inflation on the CH-53K contract, inclusive of a change in contract estimates.

President and Chief Executive Officer Gunnar Kleveland then said that without changes to the contract there was no path to profitability on the program as originally bid, and that the adjustment represented the full loss anticipated over the remaining eight-year life of the program.

On September 1, 2026, Albany said it would retain the facility and end the previously announced strategic review. The company abandoned its plan to explore a potential sale of all or part of the structures assembly business at the site.

Chris Stone, president of Albany Engineered Composites, said the company entered a contract extension for composite fuselage frames on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and recently secured new defense contracts with a strategic customer that would expand the program portfolio. Stone said the retention of the site ensures capacity to support a pipeline of commercial aerospace, defense, and advanced air mobility opportunities.

Kleveland said the amended contract offsets projected losses while maintaining support for Sikorsky, and that after reviewing multiple alternatives the company concluded that retaining the facility and continuing operations under the amended contract delivers the strongest overall economic outcome.

The entire Amelia Earhart Drive site generated approximately $130 million of revenue, after EAC charges, for the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2025, as the company weighed exiting the structures assembly portion of the business.

The company said the amended CH-53K contract is expected to generate positive cash flow beginning in 2027.