By C.R. ROBERTS; Staff writer
for The News Tribune
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.
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