2012 Brings Announcement of More Job Loss in the "Air Capital of the World."

This week the Boeing Company announced that by the end of 2013 the Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) facility in Wichita would be closed, eliminating more aerospace jobs in the city. Reports are some of the engineering and project management work will be shifted to Oklahoma City, maintenance and modification work to San Antonio, TX, and other work to the state of Washington saving a portion of these jobs assuming employees choose to relocate. Defense budget reductions and shifting customer priorities were mentioned as reasons behind the decision.

This facility maintains significance in Wichita aviation history. Parts of it reportedly belonged to the Stearman Aircraft Company in the 1920s, during World War II Boeing built such notable aircraft there as the B-29 Superfortress (and later B-52) and was known as one of nation’s busiest military production centers employing at its peak some 40,000 people. In more recent times Air Force One would be maintained there. I had the opportunity to spend time there myself when I was involved in a B747 passenger to freighter conversion program.

The Wichita area has been at the heart of aviation since aviation in this country began. Along with the likes of Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier Aerospace, Cessna Aircraft, and numerous other companies large and small, aviation workers in the area have built, repaired, and modified aircraft and parts for decades. Unfortunately, they’ve all struggled with industry downturns prompting corporate restructuring and huge job loss.

News of facility closure, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, job loss, and tough economic times has sadly become common place these days, but these reasons offer little consequence to displaced workers, and in this case the added stress to an already tough Wichita aerospace job market.