There is reason for optimism at the GE Aviation plant in Hooksett, company officials say.

A U.S. military fighter jet engine program, which in late summer appeared headed for demise on Capitol Hill, has been resurrected in recent weeks. It has survived one key congressional vote and has a strong chance of making it through others in the coming weeks.

If it does, jobs at the plant that had appeared headed for the chopping block will be saved.

Plant manager Steve Pisani described the mood at the plant as "cautiously optimistic," while Hooksett town councilor David Boutin called the development "good news."

Boutin added, "We here in Hooksett are very thankful that it appears these jobs will survive because these are our friends and neighbors and they are good quality jobs."

Six weeks ago, it appeared that Congress, under the threat of a President Barack Obama veto, would cut about $560 million in funding for a state-of-the-art jet fighter engine program being worked on at the plant.

►GE: Vote kills jobs at Hooksett plant (78)

GE officials said in early September that about 30 of the 800 employees at the Hooksett plant are currently working on the F136 engine, a second, "alternative" engine for the F35 Joint Strike Fighter.

With the F35 set to eventually replace several U.S. fighters and become the Pentagon's dominant aircraft, GE officials said there was a potential loss of as many as 200 jobs at the Hooksett plant if the alternative engine program was cancelled.

GE had been awarded the alternative engine contract in the 1990s as a way for the Pentagon to set up a competition between GE and the primary engine contractor, Pratt and Whitney.

The feeling was that by not having a monopoly and forcing the two companies to compete, the government would in the end save money.

But this year, with Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates eyeing costs savings, the alternative engine was slated to be eliminated. In initial votes, the House approved continuing funding for the alternative engine but the Senate voted to cut it.

Obama threatened to veto the entire defense bill if it contained alternative engine funding.

In the New Hampshire congressional delegation, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Rep. Paul Hodes favored cutting funding for the alternative engine, while Rep. Carol Shea-Porter strongly supported continued funding for the engine.

Sen. Judd Gregg said he supported continued funding the alternative engine only if it did not result in the cutting of other defense programs critical for U.S. troops in harm's way.

In the past several weeks, there have been signs of a change in the Senate.

A defense authorization bill spending a total of about $600 billion, which includes funding for the alternative engine, passed the House last week and is scheduled to be voted on by the Senate this week.

The Senate bill also includes funding for the engine.

Shea-Porter again supported the bill and funding for the engine.

Hodes voted for the authorization bill because it funded military pay raises and "authorized a New Hampshire based program preventing suicides for National Guards members and reservists that he offered in the House," said his spokesman, Mark Bergman.

Bergman said Hodes still opposes the alternative engine and will work to have it removed from a separate defense appropriations bill, which is still in a House-Senate conference committee.

Shaheen spokesman Colleen Murray said Shaheen continues to oppose the alternative engine.

Murray would not specify how Shaheen will vote on the authorization bill but said she believes it is "critical to our national security, providing our troops with the equipment and support they need to protect the country.

It also includes a number of the senator's priorities, including two Shaheen amendments to provide support to members of the National Guard and reservists."

Gregg's current position on the defense authorization bill could not be determined yesterday.

Meanwhile, said Kennedy, the defense appropriations conference committee is expected "to be actively engaged in discussions" this week.

He said the company is hopeful the alternative engine will survive that conference committee and be part of the critical appropriations measure.

Kennedy said the Obama veto threat appears to have softened somewhat after supporters of the alternative engine, including Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., promised to find cuts in other areas of the defense budget to pay for it.

A Pentagon spokesman told a Massachusetts newspaper last week that if the final defense bill calls for further investment in the second engine, "the department will carefully evaluate the impact on the overall Joint Strike Fighter program before making recommendations to the President about whether or not to veto the legislation."

At the GE Aviation plant in Hooksett, Pisani said, "We are cautiously optimistic that it's going to go through, but more work needs to be done. What's happened so far has been a great step forward."