The Boeing Company said Nov. 19 that it must cut some 800 employees at its Integrated Defense Systems facility in Wichita, Kan., in 2009, partly because of the delay in the Air Force’s KC-X tanker replacement program. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in September put off a new contract award until the next Administration takes office. Boeing said it planned to deliver the first 76 layoff notices on Friday and the remaining ones mostly during the first half of the new year. Expressing regret at the decision, Scott Strode, VP and GM of Boeing Wichita said in a company statement, “A combination of events are limiting our business options and forcing us to reduce our current employee total.” He added, “We are also taking steps to restructure our business in order to lower our rates and become more affordable for customers.”
C-130 transports from Air National Guard Units across the country arrived in Germany for the start of the largest air force deployment exercise in NATO history.