Boeing to close Wichita facility by end of 2013

[Flaxbee]

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Boeing Co. has told its employees that it plans to close its massive defense plant in Wichita by the end of 2013 in a bid to cut costs in a tight market for defense spending.

http://www.iqvote.com/

[louis-t]

1. And move it....where?

Didn't they just get a big gubmint contract for missiles or something?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

3. They're just moving it to their other plants.

They totally screwed over Kansas and not by accident either. Check out my post below on this.

[MidwestTransplant]

8. To the blue state of WA.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. Kansas Lawmakers got pwned by Boeing.

The decision was not a surprise because Boeing said in November it was looking at closing the Wichita plant. But it still drew an angry response from Kansas lawmakers who helped Boeing land a lucrative Air Force refueling tanker project in February and had expected thousands of jobs to come to Wichita with it. Instead, the work will go to Boeing’s facilities near Seattle and Oklahoma City.

“Boeing’s announcement is that things have changed,” U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran said. “Well, the only thing that really has changed in my mind in the last year is Boeing now has the contract. When they made the commitments, they didn’t.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/boeing-to-close-wichita-facility-before-end-of-2013-move-tanker-work-to-texas-okla-wash/2012/01/04/gIQAv20aaP_story.html

To which I say, you knew they were a snake when you put them in your pocket.

[friendly_iconoclast]

5. It wasn't an entirely unreasonable expectation

Boeing has been in Wichita since World War II, most notably as the assembly site for the B-29.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. I suspect they no longer have a market for B-29s.

and that might be part of the problem.

[Snake Alchemist]

7. Not a snake to the workers in Seattle though. nt.

[lapfog_1]

10. I only have one thing to say to Jerry Moran... and to his family

[Romulox]

11. Wait a minute! This spending is for our "defense", not some political pork boondoggle.

So these Senators should be proud to have the planes made wherever it is most efficient to do so.

For our "defense", right?

[LonePirate]

4. Repubs should be ecstatic with this combo of free market capitalism and government budget cuts.

Those two things are golden to them so this move should be receiving praise from the Republicans that dominate Kansas state government.

[pipoman]

6. Boeing should loose the contract immediately

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-04/18/content_12345171.htm

BEIJING - The China office of US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said Monday that an expansion of its China venture in north China's port city of Tianjin will be operational in 2013.

The $21m project will double the size of Boeing Tianjin Composites Co. Ltd., a joint venture between Boeing and the China Aviation Industry Corp. which produces components and parts for the Boeing 737, 747, 767, 777 and the 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

The expansion will increase the venture's composite material production capacity by 60 percent by 2013 and add an extra 300 jobs, bringing the venture's total employment to more than 1,000.

"It is win-win cooperation. Our Chinese partner will provide high quality components to increase Boeing's capacity, which in turn boosts our employment in China," said Ray Conner, vice president and general manager of Supply Chain Management and Operations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Boeing purchases more than $200m worth of products and services every year from China, making it the country's largest buyer of aircraft subassemblies. The company is expected to purchase twice as much by 2015.

Boeing and its related businesses have created about 20,000 jobs in China to date, including 6,000 employees working directly for Boeing, its subsidiaries and joint ventures.

Thanks Dems for your undying support for "free trade"..fuckers...The labor party is dead..

[Populist_Prole]

12. The dirty little secret that undermines Boeing's ballyhooed "great exporter" stronghold

So many low-information types ( when they ask, "do we still make anything here" ) buy into the specious claims still believe aircraft are the one of the few US exporting powerhouses. They've been doing this for years already. You'll hear of some huge aircraft order from China, as though it will put a huge dent in the trade deficit, except China demands a hand in production, which would erode the "export" value. They have said in the past they want to become a "virtual" airplane company. They have moved their headquarters from the Seattle area assembly plants, to Chicago; befitting their eventual goal of the only thing in the US they still do is have a cool looking office tower, with all the production elswhere.

Despite protestations to the contrary, I have a hunch the new Charleston SC plant will replace the ones in Washington...and it itself is but a waypoint on an eventual move outside the US.