The sale of Boeing Co.’s commercial aircraft plant in Wichita to a Canadian investment firm will take an economic toll on the region, at least in the short term, an economist says.
The buyer, Onex Corp., sent out letters over the weekend to Boeing workers at the commercial aircraft plants it plans to buy — in Wichita and Tulsa and McAlester, Okla. — saying whether they would have jobs with Onex’s newly formed subsidiary, Mid-Western Aircraft Systems.
About 1,100 of Boeing’s workers in Wichita were among those who received letters Saturday saying they would not have jobs.
Janet Harrah, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, estimated that the job and wage cuts would result in a 1 percent deduction in the region’s personal income.
Harrah said that considering if the economy only grows a few percentage points each year, the sale will slow the region’s economic growth.
“The silver lining is that the rest of the economy is starting to pick back up,” Harrah said.
Wichita — home to aircraft manufacturing plants for Boeing, Cessna Aircraft, Raytheon Aircraft and Bombardier Aerospace — had been recovering in the last year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The buyer, Onex Corp., sent out letters over the weekend to Boeing workers at the commercial aircraft plants it plans to buy — in Wichita and Tulsa and McAlester, Okla. — saying whether they would have jobs with Onex’s newly formed subsidiary, Mid-Western Aircraft Systems.
About 1,100 of Boeing’s workers in Wichita were among those who received letters Saturday saying they would not have jobs.
Janet Harrah, director of the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University, estimated that the job and wage cuts would result in a 1 percent deduction in the region’s personal income.
Harrah said that considering if the economy only grows a few percentage points each year, the sale will slow the region’s economic growth.
“The silver lining is that the rest of the economy is starting to pick back up,” Harrah said.
Wichita — home to aircraft manufacturing plants for Boeing, Cessna Aircraft, Raytheon Aircraft and Bombardier Aerospace — had been recovering in the last year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
