Move Follows Offer Of Voluntary Retirement Last Month

An unspecified number of workers have been laid off at Cessna, according to a company statement. The move came Thursday, a month after the planemaker asked for voluntary retirements from both salaried and hourly workers.

According to a report in the Wichita Eagle, the company said in a statement that it was implementing a plan announced April 29th. Both the company and the union had hoped that enough workers would accept retirement make layoffs unnecessary, but that didn't happen.

Cessna says that the market for business jets continues to be soft, and it has not been building a backlog of orders despite some indications of an economic recovery and improved corporate profits. Textron CEO Scott Donnelly said in a conference call last month that the more typical situation has been "you take an order for an aircraft and you deliver the aircraft."

The retirement plan and subsequent layoffs are part of a strategy to align Cessna's workforce with its production and sales forecasts. Cessna employs 8,200 people, with the majority of those working in Wichita.

FMI: www.cessna.com