LITTLE ROCK — Wichita, Kan.-based Hawker Beechcraft on Friday said it will cut its salaried work force by 350 positions companywide, but the aircraft manufacturer said it is still deciding where the cuts will be made.
Company spokesman Nicole Alexander said in an e-mail that she had no information on how the company’s Little Rock operations would be affected. Nor did she have current employment numbers she could provide, she said.
The world’s largest private aircraft manufacturer, Hawker maintains a factory at Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, that does finish work on private jets.The plant employed roughly 600 people last year, the last time the company provided numbers. Hawker laid off workers in Little Rock in November, but would not say how many.
Hawker in July employed about 6,000 employees in Wichita, according to The Wichita Eagle newspaper.
More details on the cuts will be provided in the next few days, Bill Boisture, Hawker’s president and chief executive, said in a letter to employees.
Boisture blamed the cuts on soft demand for aircraft. The market has not improved as much as Hawker had hoped when the company reduced its head count in 2009, when Hawker announced it would cut 2,300 workers by late that year.
Indeed, “the market isflat to slightly down and the conditions that would signal an upturn are not in sight for at least the next 12 months,” Boisture said.
Hawker reported a net loss of nearly $57 million for the quarter ending June 27, down from a profit of $172 million a year earlier. Sales were $639 million, down from $816.3 million a year earlier.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Cessna Aircraft is cutting 700 jobs, following 8,000 the company has slashed since 2008. A large share of the cuts have been in Wichita, the AP said, where about 6,200 are employed by the company, down from 12,400 two years earlier.
In the letter Boisture said the market for “new production aircraft has stagnated at a very low level. Readily available, high quality, used aircraft and the lack of financing have combined to depress the prices on private and business aircraft.”
Hawker does not expect a “large-scale” layoff for hourly workers, the letter said. Small reductions or furloughs may be required, however, it said.
Arkansas economic development officials have received no word on how Little Rock may be affected, said Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Business, Pages 31 on 09/25/2010