Hawker Beechcraft 'correctly sized' for remainder of year

Source The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

May 13, 2010

May 11--Hawker Beechcraft has reached the right number of workers for its current production, CEO Bill Boisture told analysts in a conference call today. "We think it's going to be a rough year, and we think we have the company correctly sized in terms of work force and production rates, in terms of a working our way through this year," he said.

But the company continues to seek to lower costs with a re-examination of its operations and supply chain through Project Challenge. Eventually, the company expects to further cut its facility footprint, he said.

The company earlier reported sales of $568.2 million in the first quarter, with a $61.6 million increase in sales of its military trainer partly offset by $32.8 million decline in its business aircraft division.

Boisture said he expects 2010 to remain difficult, but the signs, such as a decline in the number of used aircraft, are positive.

For more on this story, come back to Kansas.com and look in Wednesday's Eagle.