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Associated Press/Kansas City Star
Aviation Industry Suppliers Struggle along with Makers of Planes
Sep 07, 2009

WICHITA  - Companies that supply aviation manufacturers have cut at least 1,000 jobs in the area since October as companies cancel or defer orders for planes.

Wichita's three general aviation manufacturers - Cessna Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft and Bombardier Learjet - have eliminated more than 12,000 jobs in Kansas in the past year. Their cutbacks have forced suppliers to reduce hours and furlough or lay off workers.

Companies with a large focus on business aviation have been hit the hardest. Those with commercial airline work from Spirit AeroSystems or Boeing are faring better.

About 150 suppliers and subcontractors turn out parts, subassemblies and other products for the planemakers in the Wichita area, where the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in July. One out of every 10 people living in the city works in aviation manufacturing.

The Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas said it knew of about 1,000 job cuts at aviation-related companies since October.

Precision Pattern, which makes aircraft furnishings, has cut 43 percent of its work force since October and rows of stations sit empty.

"This place was busting at the seams," general manager Brian DeKamp said. "It's really tragic what's happened in the industry."

Employment at composite parts producer PCI is down nearly 60 percent.

"We were hiring people, training people; we were very busy," general manager Jeff Whitehead said. "Then, man, after the first of the year, it was really like falling off a cliff."





No Plane No Gain: Sampling of 2010 Coverage

Since the launch of the No Plane No Gain advocacy campaign, a concerted effort has been made to deliver the message about the importance of business aviation through national and local news outlets. This sampling of national and local television coverage in 2010, highlights the campaign's effectiveness in communicating the industry's importance.

NBAA's Bolen on Fox Business Network

Click here to see Ed Bolen, President and CEO of NBAA, in an interview on Fox Business Network

NBAA's Bolen on DC's Newschannel 8

In an interview with Newschannel 8, Bolen explains that "... business aviation is prudent, cost-effective, and oftentimes, the only way to get where you're going."

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