2 February 2009
Manufacturer Cessna is set to lose another 2,000 jobs, it is reported, on top of the 2,600 or so already made as part of the reaction to the economic downturn. The new lay-offs represent 13 percent of the workforce.
In all the cuts now amount to a thrid of the company’s workforce at its main base in Wichita, while over half of the workforce at Bend, Oregon (where the Cessna 350 and 400 Corvalis models are manufactured) will also be without jobs.
According to the Associated Press, Cessna has set its production targets for 2009 at 375 jets (down from 467 manufactured last year); it hasn’t yet determined how many single-engine aircraft it may produce in 2009.
Cessna CEO Jack Pelton admitted that the cuts were ‘profound’, and that it was “extremely difficult to forecast this year’s delivery number because, ultimately, it will depend on how the economy and other factors affect customer orders and cancellations.”
