Workers In Wichita Say It's News To Them

Workers at Raytheon's aircraft plant in Wichita, KS received a bit of unwelcome news Thursday, as they heard the aerospace manufacturer is mulling over selling that facility... despite the fact the company just reported a 54 percent gain in profits in the third quarter of FY2006, over the same period last year.

In fact, those profits may be the very reason Raytheon is considering the sale of the plant. Some analysts say this could be the best time to sell the small aircraft plant -- while it's still making money.

Workers in Wichita say the news is a surprise.

"They didn’t tell us anything. In fact, it took more time to walk over than what it did to get any kind of response from them," said worker Dave Beckel.

Formed in 1993 when Raytheon purchased the Hawker line of business jets from British Aerospace, Raytheon Aircraft added Beechcraft to its lineup in 1994.

Wichita business expert Janet Harrah told KSN-TV the move -- rumored within the aviation community for years, especially among Beech owners -- may mirror the larger trend in aviation.

"I think we’ve seen this as part of the general aviation and the commercial aviation trend," said Harrah. "We saw this with Boeing. Boeing doesn’t want to do the actual manufacturing. They want to do the design, the engineering. They want to do the sales and the financing. They want to outsource their manufacturing process."

For now, Raytheon says it is merely exploring its options, and no final decisions have been made -- and added workers have nothing to fear.

"Our employees will see very little change on a day-to-day basis and we will continue to focus on the priorities that have made this business successful," said Raytheon CEO James Shuster.

FMI: www.raytheonaircraft.com