Cessna

(WICHITA, Kan.) Wichita's aviation manufacturers have passed on bad news to their workers this month, and that bad news could pass on to several more local companies.  On Tuesday, Boeing announced its plans to lay off more than 800 people through next year, bringing November's local aviation layoff total to more than 1,600. McGinty Machine Company makes parts for several aviation companies, including Boeing.  Don McGinty says his machine shop has plenty of work right now, but that could slow down after the first of the year.

(AUGUSTA, Kan.) One year ago, Brandon and Lacey Arrasmith were preparing for the worst. This year, they're experiencing it. "I get upset in the mornings for no reason and you just get to a point where who cares about looking for a job, there's nothing out there," explains Brandon.  Not only was Brandon laid off from Cessna in April but he says his job has since been outsourced, leaving him without the option off a callback. And the couple says they've never seen a job market as bleak as today's.

(WICHITA, Kan.) There's a lot in a name, especially the one on the sign at 13th and Hydraulic.  "It's sort of a comeback for me, that's why I named it Comeback Burger Stand. " For decades Rick Burns spent his nights supervising a machine shop at Hawker Beechcraft. "We were the guys who come to the burger stands. " Thanks to a layoff notice he's scooping, flipping, frying and packaging up something he's wanted to try for a long time. "I've always wanted to have a little place that I could cook for people and just for them to enjoy what I cook because I like to see people enjoy my food.

From the Kansas Historical Society: Airplane manufacturer. Born: December 5, 1879, Hawthorne, Iowa.  Died: November 20, 1954, Rago, Kansas. Clyde Vernon Cessna was born December 5, 1879, in Hawthorne, Iowa, to James William and Mary Vandora (Skates) Cessna. The following year the family settled on a farm near Rago in Kingman County. Cessna worked as an automobile salesman in Enid, Oklahoma, when in 1910 he saw a traveling "air circus. " He was so inspired by aviation that gave up his job and went to work for Queen Aeroplane Company in New York to learn aircraft construction.

Cessna announced in early November, 2008 that it would be reevaluating its workforce.  Just a week later, the company said it would be laying off 500 workers in Wichita and 165 workers in Bend, Oregon. 150 workers volunteered to be laid off.  Two rounds of 60-day layoff notices went out in early November and December, 2008. Cessna employs around 12,000 people in Wichita. In early January - the company announced it would cut another 2,000 jobs company-wide January 29th, the company announced an additional 2,000 job cuts.

One day after Hawker Beechcraft kicked off negotiations with its machinist union, Cessna is starting its. "I was actually going to call up Jeff Turner (Spirit AeroSystems) today and see if he didn't want to re-open that agreement so we could do three at one time," joked Tom Buffenbarger, IAM International President. Buffenbarger and Cessna CEO Jack Pelton each made statements Friday morning. Like Hawker, both said the focus of the next contract will be on saving jobs and keeping the company viable.

Cessna's parent company announced Monday that chairman, president and C.E.O. Jack Pelton has retired from Cessna. Textron put out the information in a press release Monday afternoon. Pelton has been with Cessna since 2000.  He became president and C.E.O. in 2003.  Textron says his retirement was not a surprise but a mutual agreement between Pelton and Textron C.E.O. Scott Donnelly who will run Cessna until a successor is named.   In an email, Textron's Corporate Communications Director tells Eyewitness News that "Jack has led Cessna through an important growth phase since becoming president and CEO in 2003—and more recently, through a challenging time for the business jet market.

Cessna Aircraft is giving its workers in Wichita a first look at its new Cessna Citation Latitude plane.  Reporter Video: Megan Strader on new Cessna Latitude Cessna says the Latitude offers a full fuel payload and a maximum cruise speed of 442 knots. The aircraft comes with a sticker price of $14.9 million. Cessna first unveiled it earlier this month at the National Businesses Aviation trade show. It's the second new jet that Cessna has announced in the past month.

Cessna's Skycatcher plane will fly some new skies for the first time. The aircraft manufacturer made its first international delivery on the model to a company in Queensland, Australia. The plane maker has already delivered more than 30 Skycatchers to American pilots. Cessna plans to deliver 150 Skycatchers this year. Many of those will be international sales. Wichita workers have a couple connections to the model.  Crews here reassemble the plane. Wichita pilots also performed test flights before it went to market.

by Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.) It may not make up for thousands of Wichita's aviation job losses, but it's a start.  Cessna announced Monday it was calling back 180 laid off workers. They'll be working on the assembly line for the Cessna Citation Sovereign, which is receiving several international orders.  Sixty workers started Monday with two more groups set to be called back this month. Martin Eddy says not working was never the hard part of being laid off.  It was wondering when work would start again.