Citing defense budget cuts and delays, Boeing Co. announced Monday it would restructure its Wichita operations and lay off about 900 workers, or about 25 percent of its current work force at the plant.
The Chicago-based aviation and aerospace company said its Wichita plant will focus on military 747 and wide-body aircraft modifications and upgrades and continue its engineering center. The plant currently employs about 3,600 people and Boeing said the work force would be 2,700 by early 2007.
"There has been much speculation about the future of Boeing in Wichita in recent months," Derek McLuckey, general manager for Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems in Wichita, said in a news release. "Today we are telling our employees that we must right-size our operations for available work performed in Wichita. And we are telling them that we now have to execute a revised business plan in order to ensure our future."
Boeing said it will issue 60-day layoff notices to 360 workers on Tuesday. An additional 240 employees will lose their jobs by the end of July and 300 more jobs will be cut in mid-November, the company said.
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