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Aviation |
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For all its growth in the service
industries, the economy in the city we
affectionately call the “Air Capital of the
World” is bound closely to manufacturing,
especially aircraft manufacturing. It is one
of the world’s most important centers for
the manufacture of aircraft —specifically,
production of light general aviation
aircraft and business jets, as well as
manufacture of major structural components
for large commercial airliners. |
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Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems combines
weapons and aircraft capabilities, intelligence and
surveillance systems, communications architectures
and extensive large-scale integration expertise
across its seven customer-facing business units.
Working in partnership with its customers and
focusing on network-centric, capability-driven
solutions, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is
transforming business and military operations to
address a rapidly changing world. The seven
customer-facing business units are Aerospace
Support, Air Force Systems, Army Systems, Missile
Defense Systems, NASA Systems, Naval Systems and
Space and Intelligence Systems.
Bombardier Aerospace
is the world’s third largest manufacturer of civil
aircraft. Wichita is headquarters to the company’s
Learjet operations and the center for all of
Bombardier’s aircraft certification flight testing.
Bombardier has delivered more than 2,300 business
jet aircraft worldwide since 1964. The business unit
currently manufactures the high-performance Learjet
40, the trans-continenetal Learjet 60 and the
Learjet 45 and 45XR models. One of eight Bombardier
Business Aviation Services centers is also located
here, serving for than 600 aircraft a year.
Cessna
Aircraft Company,
established in Wichita in 1927, has delivered nearly
190,000 aircraft, including 24,000 twin-engine
airplanes, 2,000 military jets and 3,200 Citations —
the largest fleet of business jet aircraft in the
world. Currently, Cessna manufactures eight business
jets, including the Citation X, the world’s fastest
business jet. Also manufactured in Wichita are four
models of Cessna Caravans. Worldwide, Cessna employs
over 13,000 people in the design, manufacture, sale
and service of general aviation aircraft, and is a
registered ISO9001 company in recognition of its
quality systems and processes.
Raytheon Aircraft
employs some 17,000 people worldwide with more than
$2.7 billion in annual sales. Wichita is the
company’s world headquarters and a principal
manufacturing site. More than 9,000 Kansans work for
Raytheon. The company’s product line includes
super-midsize, midsize and light jet aircraft,
turboprops and piston-powered aircraft, many of
which proudly carry the Beech name, yet another of
the city’s pioneering aviation companies. Raytheon
has invested $350 million recently to upgrade its
Kansas operations, with more Computer-Aided Design,
more cellular manufacturing, more high-speed
machining and automated fabrication of composite
aircraft fuselages.
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Spirit Aerosystems,
Inc., the
world’s largest Tier 1 aerostructures
company, designs and fabricates the forward
cab assembly and under-wing component
package for all commercial aircraft designed
by Boeing (737, 747, 757, 767, and 777), as
well as, the metallic fuselage of the 737
aircraft. Spirit Aerosystems is now well
into the large-scale research and
manufacturing development for the 787
program. Formerly owned by The Boeing
Company, Spirit Aerosystems, Inc. has deep
roots in the aerospace industry.
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