Boeing to close plant in Wichita by 2013

The Boeing Co. announced Wednesday it plans to close its Wichita, Kan., manufacturing plant by the end of 2013.

As 2,160 employees lose their jobs, aircraft production will be transferred to Boeing facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and the Puget Sound area.

The net gain of jobs in the Puget Sound region will be minimal – 200 jobs to begin, with the number diminishing as production continues – and officials anticipate that most positions will be filled in Everett and perhaps at Boeing Field south of downtown Seattle.

Meanwhile, the company announced that about 100 Washington positions involved in the production of U.S. government VIP aircraft will be lost to Oklahoma City.

The switch away from production in Kansas had been rumored for several weeks. The company confirmed the news to Wichita employees at a 30-minute mandatory meeting Wednesday morning.

“The decision to close our Wichita facility was difficult but ultimately was based on a thorough study of the current and future market environment and our ability to remain competitive while meeting our customers’ needs with the best and most affordable solutions,” said Mark Bass, Boeing vice president and general manager of the company’s Maintenance, Modifications and Upgrades division at the Defense, Space and Security facility.

Bass said the company would continue its relationship with Kansas suppliers, and said Boeing spent $3.2 billion with some 475 firms in 2011.

“Based on Boeing Commercial Airplanes growth projections for the next few years, Boeing anticipates even more growth for suppliers in Kansas,” Bass stated.

Kansas officials had supported Boeing in its effort to secure a military contract to develop an airborne tanker based on the company’s 767 passenger aircraft.

Those officials did not take kindly to Wednesday’s announcement.

“This is a very sad day for Wichita and Kansas,” said Kansas state Rep. Jim Ward late Wednesday afternoon. “It is heartbreaking that 2,100 highly skilled workers lost their jobs today. It is outrageous we will not be getting the 7,500 jobs promised by Boeing when they got the tanker project.”

“Boeing is the poster child for tax incentives,” Ward stated. “This company has benefited from property tax incentives, sales tax exemptions, infrastructure investments and other tax breaks at every level of government. These incentives were provided in an effort to retain and create thousands of Kansas jobs. We will be less trusting in the future of corporate promises.”

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer offered his condolences to the families that will be affected by the closure, and he called Boeing’s decision “a severe blow to our local economy.”

Brewer said he would “call our community partners together to launch an aggressive campaign of recruitment and retention.”

He also promised to “make specific overtures to companies such as Airbus, who have secured a foothold in our local economy and offer an opportunity for more high-skill, high-wage jobs in the future.”

Airbus had earlier joined with Boeing in a contentious competition for the tanker contract.

Kansas U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo said Boeing needs “to honor the commitment they made to Kansas. I intend to do everything within my power to convince them the right thing to do is to keep that promise. If they choose otherwise, I’ll do everything I can to force them to keep that promise.”

According to a Kansas City Star report Wednesday, “Boeing had no response to Pompeo’s claim other than to reiterate the statement it made last month when the company announced it was conducting a study on the future of its Wichita site. At the time, Boeing said closing the Wichita facility was among the options being considered.”

“When we won that tanker contract we all knew that meant the extension of the 767 line in Everett,” said Tom McCarty, president of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. “We all assumed at the time that the tanker modification would be done in Wichita. We had that assumption up until a few months ago.”

McCarty’s union represents some 600 engineers in Wichita, as well as those working in other regions.

“The rumors have been in the air for a couple of months now. We had a couple of calls advising us that a decision would be coming down early this year,” he said.

The union, he said, has already begun talks with Boeing management concerning the effect of the closure on represented employees.

“We’ll work very hard to assure that everyone has a job,” he said.

Connie Kelliher, spokeswoman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said Wednesday, “It’s certainly sad news when Boeing closes any facility.”

She said that some 150 of her members are currently “on loan” from Wichita, working at the Everett Boeing facility.

Her group represents more than 2,000 Boeing workers, including 450 hourly employees in Wichita.

Boeing spokesman Jarrod Bartlett in Wichita said the company would offer help to all affected employees.

“We’re going to have a lot of transition assistance,” he said.

He also said Kansas would continue to be important to Boeing, given the number of suppliers.

Business will likely flow to outside suppliers in the Puget Sound area as well.

Troy McClelland, CEO of the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County, said Wednesday, “This is not something you seek, but if it’s a decision a private company makes, we do everything we can to support that decision.”

“From my perspective and from a regional perspective,” he said, “this provides an opportunity for suppliers to consider a presence in the Puget Sound where they might not have had one in the past. It’s a sad day for Wichita. For the Puget Sound, it’s an opportunity for jobs.”

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535 c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com