Boeing to Shutdown Wichita Defense Plant in Cost-Cutting Move

Leading aerospace and defense contracting company Boeing

announced on Wednesday that it plans on shuttering its Wichita, KS based defense plant before the end of 2013. The move is being taken in an effort to cut costs at the company in light of a difficult environment for defense spending. Today's announcement will take a toll on the Wichita area where 2,100 well-paying jobs will be lost. Furthermore, the plant closure negates Wichita's hopes for an additional 7,500 jobs that Boeing once promised the area with its Air Force air-refueling tanker contract. The company said that it will start cutting jobs at the plant in the third quarter of 2013. The facility is the base for Boeing's Global Transport & Executive Systems business and its B-52 and 767 International Tanker programs. "In this time of defense budget reductions, as well as shifting customer priorities, Boeing has decided to close its operations in Wichita to reduce costs, increase efficiencies, and drive competitiveness," said Mark Bass, vice president and general manager for BDS' Maintenance, Modifications & Upgrades division in a statement.