Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. — European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie plans to open a design office in Wichita, joining other major aerospace manufacturers with a presence here.
Airbus, the world’s No. 2 commercial airplane maker and Boeing’s chief rival, said it will hire 50 to 60 engineers and support staff for its wing design and engineering office.
Boeing Co., Cessna Aircraft, Bombardier Aerospace and Raytheon Aircraft employ 40,000 workers in Wichita, but about 7,000 could be out of jobs by the middle of next year because of layoffs, the majority at Boeing.
Adding another aviation company could make the community more attractive for engineers, said Boeing Wichita spokesman Fred Solis. But it also will increase already fierce competition between the companies for talented workers.
An Airbus facility in Wichita would support "the cluster and the recognition of Wichita as a center for aviation," said Dave Franson, a Bombardier spokesman. "It also has potential to exacerbate a difficult situation when the market returns."
Airbus’ wing design facility would be a satellite office that would work on the company’s wing programs throughout its fleet as well as its planned 555-seat jumbo jet, the A380, Airbus spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn said.
But she said the overwhelming majority of the wing design will continue to be done in the United Kingdom. Once the design of a new wing is completed, engineers and others continue to work on streamlining and tweaking it at the site.
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