Hawker Beechcraft

by Chris Durden (WICHITA, Kan.) Layoffs begin at planemaker Hawker Beechcraft. The company plans to cut about 320 people Thursday. The company announced earlier this week that it plans to cut five-percent of its workforce, or about 500 people in total. Hawker sent a letter to its employees a couple of weeks ago warning them to prepare for the worst because of the economy. Andrew Bloom, the Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs, released the following statement Thursday afternoon: "We have already stated that we are reducing our workforce by approximately 5%. Discussing details in the media is demoralizing to the employees and disruptive to our business.

Sedgwick County Commissioners approve $2.5 million in incentives for Hawker Beechcraft. The incentives are part of a $45 million dollar package created late last year in order to keep Hawker Beechcraft from leaving Wichita. Under the deal the state will give Hawker Beechcraft $40 million, and the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County will give $2.5 million each. In return the company must keep its headquarters in Wichita and employ at least 4,000 in Wichita people for the next 10 years.

At least six companies are interested in buying some parts of Hawker Beechcraft. That's according to a weekend filing by the company in bankruptcy court. The June 30 filing shows Hawker initially identified 35 buyers.  From there, Hawker narrowed the list down to six. Each of those companies has visited Hawker's headquarters and manufacturing plant. The disclosure statement on reorganization filed over the weekend does not contain a plan for reorganizing the company as a standalone business.

Union machinists at Hawker Beechcraft will head to the polls tomorrow morning. At stake is a new contract, and potentially, the planemaker's future in Wichita. Voting starts at nine o'clock Saturday morning at the Kansas Coliseum Pavillion. A meeting will be held at ten o'clock to go over the contract and the polls will close at 1:30. Hawker Beechcraft recently accepted an incentive package from the state in exchange for a guarantee the company will keep a majority of its jobs here.

Contract negotiations between Hawker Beechcraft and its machinists are on hold after Louisiana makes an offer to relocate the company to Baton Rouge. The news was broken to machinists Saturday morning at a lodge meeting. (read the document given to members on the left side of this page) . The union says Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson has contacted the International Association of Machinists President Tom Buffenbarger to set up a meeting with the IAM and Hawker CEO Bill Boisture on Tuesday, October 5. A spokeswoman for Governor Parkinson told Eyewitness News, "The possibility of losing thousands of Hawker Beechcraft jobs is something we are very, very concerned about.

The outside of the Hawker Beechcraft plant hasn't changed much in the past two years. But ask anyone who works there about what's different inside. "It's a very depressing mood, very. " "Everybody's pretty somber now. They show up and do their jobs but it's hard to care. " Michelle and Gary Thornton both work at Hawker Beechcraft and combined, have more than 30 years with company. They say not once in that time, did they think the company would ever leave town - until now. "With the name Beechcraft, they've worked through it all and they did whatever they needed to do to keep the doors open," said Michelle.

by Rebecca Gannon (WICHITA, Kan.) They were told to prepare for the worst. Now, workers at one of Wichita's biggest planemakers get the news. The worst may already be here - Hawker Beechcraft workers found out Monday the company will cut 5% of its workforce, and many of those jobs will likely be in Wichita. Hawker sent a letter to its employees a couple of weeks ago warning them to prepare for the worst because of the economy. Now employees get a new letter telling them of layoffs.

Small business owners near Hawker Beechcraft fear they could be forced to close. The machinists Union told members Saturday Louisiana made a large offer to move the entire company to Baton Rouge, but if the company moves, it will affect more than just its workers. When Joe Dunlavy opened All Star Dry Cleaning, he had no idea that he may be forced to close less than a year after opening. “I don't want to accept it just yet. I want to believe that it will stay here.

Sixty-nine percent of Hawker Machinists voted "yes" to a five-year contract on Saturday. The deal increases benefit costs, keep pensions in place (even for new hires) and gives raises in the third, fourth, and fifth years of the deal. "It's probably the worst contract we've been offered since I've been out here. Could it have been worse? Yes, a lot worse. But with the economy the way it is, and with jobs the way they are, I'm gonna buy it," said Brenda Cook. The phrase "it could be worse" came up a lot when talking with machinists voting at Wichita's Hartman Arena.

The Department of Defense has awarded a $427 million light air support contract to Sierra Nevada Corp. It is the second time the Air Force has chosen the Sparks, Nevada company over now Wichita-based Beechcraft Corp. The competition began nearly three years ago. Hawker Beechcraft had submitted a bid for its AT-6, an armed version of its T-6 trainer for the LAS contract. The aviation company sued the U.S. government in December of 2011 after it felt it was wrongly excluded from the competition in November of that year.

Hawker Beechcraft is no more, in it's place Beechcraft Corp. The aviation company has a new name, a smaller product line and more importantly, it is out of bankruptcy. There is a new flag flying outside of Beechcraft's corporate headquarters, and soon even more big red B's going up around the plant It took ten months to get this company out of bankruptcy. Now the C.E.O. is focused on building beechcraft's financial future.   "It's an exciting time for me personally and everybody in this company," said Beechcraft C.E.O.

The company that became Hawker Beechcraft was founded by Walter and Olive Beech in Wichita in 1932. The first Beechcraft produced is the Model 17 - the classic Beechcraft "Staggerwing. " Designed especially for the business traveler, the airplane proves to be faster than military pursuit airplanes of the day and wins numerous air races. In 1937, Beech introduces the Model 18 "Twin Beech. " This airplane is to business what the DC-3 is to the airlines. Produced until 1970, the 33 years of continuous Model 18 production was a record until surpassed by the Beechcraft Bonanza.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan has approved Hawker Beechcraft's plan for reorganization. The confirmation paves the way for the aviation company to emerge from Chapter 11 in a couple of weeks. Under the reorganization terms, the company will rename itself Beechcraft Corporation. It will focus on turboprop, piston, special mission, trainer and attack aircraft and parts and maintenance. Click here to read the full release from Hawker Beechcraft The judge also signed off on a pension plan agreement for the International Association of Machinists.

Employment at Hawker Beechcraft has fallen below an agreement with Wichita and Kansas leaders, according to an annual report. Hawker said 3,372 employees work at the Wichita facility. The aviation company agreed to employ 3,600 employees as part of a $45 million tax incentive plan to remain in Wichita. Bill Boisture, Hawker chairman, said the economic recession continues to hit the company's finances. Hawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. Financial restructuring plans are expected to be complete in February.

Hawker Beechcraft will furlough some of its employees this year. A spokesperson for the company says the furloughs are related to negotiations with a government defense contract, also known as J-PATS. Nearly 240 hourly employees that work on the T6/AT6 production line in Wichita will be affected. Employees will still have access to benefits but won't be allowed to come to work. They will not be paid when they are on furlough. The rolling furloughs will be scheduled throughout the year and are expected to last 2-3 weeks at a time.

A new year, but the same problem for millions of Americans, still dealing with unemployment. Across the country, 40 percent of unemployed americans have been out of work for more than six months a s the country passed the deadline for the 'fiscal cliff.' Scott Conyac has been unemployed for the last 2 months and says it's a job looking for another job.  He spends more than 5 hours a day, just searching. The financial planner was one of 170 laid off from Hawker Beechcraft.  "It was a real shocker but I took it professionally and I knew it wasn't personal, just business," says Conyac.

Planemaker Hawker Beechcraft says it has called off talks with a Chinese planemaker and that it intends to emerge from bankruptcy as a standalone company.  Details of the announcement are in the press release the company posted on its website Thursday morning (release is below). Eyewitness News also checked with the Kansas Department of Commerce about the incentives it received to stay in Wichita. A spokesperson says the state's plan requires Hawker Beechcraft to maintain a minimum of 4,000 employees.

A team of Wichita business leaders and politicians are heading to China. During the 12 day trip, they'll visit several cities and plan to meet with the company seeking to buy Hawker Beechcraft. Friday morning several of Wichita's leaders, including Mayor Carl Brewer and Vice Mayor Janet Miller, leave on a trade mission to China.  But at a time when so many Kansans are struggling to make ends meet some wonder how Wichita benefits from the trip and who is footing the bill. In an effort to keep costs down organizers have combined three different trips into one.  The first leg will be an economic trade mission to Beijing and nearby cities.  The second is an obligatory visit to Wichita's Sister City, Kaifeng.  And the third and final stop is in the city of Wuxi which has an eco-partnership with Wichita.  The cost of the trip is also being split three ways.

The votes have been counted and Bombardier Learjet Machinists will hit the picket line Monday morning at 12:01. Machinists rejected the company's 5-year contract proposal. 79% of workers were in favor of a strike. The last time Bombardier employees went on strike was in 2006. The strike lasted a couple of weeks. The union says there are two points of contention in the contract. First, it says Bombardier wants to eliminate two of the HMO's 80% of members are using.  Under one of the HMO's, name brand prescriptions currently cost $30 but the new plan would increase the cost to $80. Raises are the other issue.