Wichita, Kansas, aviation industry manufacturing job losses
Real estate prices have dropped, and thousands of people who work in the service sector are suddenly without work
msnbc.com
May 12 — Perhaps no other city has felt the downturn in the nation’s aviation industry more than Wichita, Kansas. Twenty-five percent of its work force is employed in manufacturing — the vast majority in aviation. As of last September, 6,000 aviation workers had lost their jobs. By this week, that number had doubled, and the city’s 6.5 percent unemployment rate may be headed for double digits.
IT’S NOT THE airport that makes this city the aviation capital of the world. Wichita’s bragging rights come from the fact that no other city anywhere has built more airplanes. But that reliance on aviation has virtually pushed Wichita’s economy off the radar.
“When the aviation industry gets a cold, Wichita gets pneumonia,” said Dave Franson, a spokesman at Bombardier USA.
The city has lost 12,000 to 14,000 aviation jobs in just two years. Its unemployment rate is the highest in Kansas.
At Bombardier: 1,000 people have lost their jobs.
At Raytheon: 3,000.
At Cessna: 1,700 so far, but this summer, 6,000 employees will be furloughed for 7 weeks, pushing Wichita’s unemployment rate to double digits.
And at Boeing: 5,000 fewer employees are on the job now than just 2 years ago.
Wichita is now pinning its hopes on Boeing for new growth. The state legislature just approved $500 million in bond money to help finance research and development at Boeing Wichita, as it competes with sub-contractors around the world — to build the new 7E7 jet. Should Wichita land that contract, it could mean 4,000 jobs.
“We should not be counting how many $50,000 jobs we’ve lost,” said Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans. “We should be working on how many $75,000 jobs we can create. And that’s what we are going to do here.”
But with the loss of those high-paying aviation jobs, the rest of the economy has also suffered. Real estate prices have dropped, and thousands of people who work in the service sector are suddenly without work.
Now, some former members of Wichita’s middle class are showing up at the city’s food banks looking for help.
Catholic Charities says it’s providing 80 to 90 families each week with everything from corn flakes and tuna fish, to help with paying utility bills. Demand for services were up 23 percent last year alone.
“It’s very hard because so many people call all the time and we can only help so many people,” says Kristen Mayhuw at Catholic Charities of Wichita. I’m turning more people away than I’m helping right now.”
Theresa Carter has been to Catholic Services. She was a senior buyer at Raytheon making $50,000 a year, before being laid off 18 months ago.
Now, her phone has been shut off, she’s sold her car, and this single mother is behind on her mortgage.
“I’ve worked very hard,” she said. “It’s a small home. But this is home. And I’ve been here almost 16 years.”
CNBC: “And you don’t want to lose it.”
Carter: “No, I don’t. I really don’t!”
At Bombardier, the first Learjets of 2003 are just now starting through the assembly line. A luxury item for many, the line was shut down until the first of May
Like much of the aviation industry, Bombardier had a very good year in 2000, when 130 Learjets came off the line. Last year, they made fewer than 60. And for the first four months of this year, the entire manufacturing staff was furloughed. They’re just now coming back to work. The company is hoping with the end of the war, the economy will pick up and business will improve.
“But we’re projecting that this year will be a very tough year in 2003 and 2004 will not be any day at the beach either,” said Franson.
The winds of change have blown hard through Wichita. It now finds itself competing with cheaper labor around the world for the very work that gave this city its reputation.
“We have to play in the world,” said Tim Witsman, president of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce. “And we have to play on a standard that is ‘Hey — we’re better than the state next door.’ We have to be better than people in Europe and South America.”
There is some help on the way. Last month, Congress extended unemployment benefits by 26 weeks to aviation workers. The summer-jobs fair for teenagers in Wichita has been canceled. Some of those 6,000 Cessna employees may need a job to make ends meet this summer. And Wichita is hoping that furlough is indeed only temporary. |
