Hawker Beechcraft corporate headquarters in Wichita. (Photo Credit: Raytheon)
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Hawker Beechcraft plans to furlough about 240 employees now that negotiations with the government have fallen behind schedule. The Wichita Eagle reports that the furloughs will affect hourly workers on T-6 and AT-6 production and will begin later this month. Hawker Beechcraft spokeswoman Nicole Alexander says the furloughs will likely be in one- or two-week increments and total several weeks throughout the year to match production. The company builds T-6 military trainers to sell to the U.S. government as part of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems contract. The company is currently negotiating with the government for the next lot of airplanes, and negotiations are behind schedule. Each lot is negotiated separately and pricing for the next lot of airplanes is a main piece of the negotiations.