Cessna is closing after all

By Jon | Filed in Business, Economy

Just announced this morning on KTVZ.com: Cessna is closing its factory here in Bend.

Due to a continued slump in plane sales, Cessna Aircraft Co. announced Wednesday morning that it will shut its factory at the Bend Airport and lay off the fewer than 200 people still working there, moving assembly of the Corvalis line of planes to its Independence, Kan., facility.

The Bend closure comes as part of an announcement of eliminating 8,200 jobs, or 20 percent, of parent company Textron’s global work force as the recession continues tt weaken demand for planes.

Cessna, the world’s largest plane-maker, denied the always-persistent rumors that it had planned all along to move the Bend work to its Kansas headquarters.

2 comments

  1. I have been flying for over 35 years and have seen more economic bad times in this state than I care to remember. General aviation has always been a very volatile way to make a dollar. The nation has changed the world is changing and if anyone is going to make a dollar in aviation it will be in the evolving world of "unmanned" aircraft. I came to realize this myself over eight years ago when this nation first went to war in Afghanistan. Since then annual spending on unmanned aviation by the Department of Defense has gone from just $250 million dollars per year to over $3.4 billion last year. The "Teal Group" now estimates that in the next decade the Pentagon will be spending close to $7 billion per year by 2018 on unmanned aviation systems and aircraft. Global spending in all forms of unmanned systems in ten years will see spending over 180 billion dollars.
    Look Oregonians if this state is ever to develop a new aviation industry that bring the living wage jobs and the taxes that come with such income we go after were the money is now flowing. I myself decided it was time for me to go from the cockpit to fly a desk and design an aerial refueling tanker for this industry. General aviation is dead it has been dieing for over a decade now, general aviation needs middle-class living wage jobs that is something that is now in short supply in this nation.
    But the economic leaders of your county did not even want to listen to me and my project over a year ago when I contacted them to meet and see about bring this to the Bend area. Our leaders both at state and county level have to turn over "any" stone if jobs are going to be developed in this state and that means defense and homeland security jobs.
    If anyone in your Chamber of Commerce in the Bend area wants to here about my project and the unmanned aviation field I can be contacted at raveneye58@hotmil.com . The new growth industry in the decades to come will be the production of the tools that will be used to control conflict and war. In aviation those tools will be unmanned aircraft and manned light utility helicopters. My technology will use off-the-shelf single or twin engine turbo-prop aircraft that are modified to allow them to perform aerial refueling below 100 knots.
    Looks like your airport could use a new tenant for that huge hanger on the east side of your airport. If you think I’m just blowing hot air pick up a copy of "Wired for War" by P.W. Singer or visit a web site called AUVSI it is the association of the unmanned industry.
    The time has come to look at the "unmanned" aviation field to bring the needed jobs your area which it now badly needs well I have a product that is looking for a home and investment to go after SBIR Department of Defense grant monies. This year the USAF will obtain 95 new aircraft of that number 52 will be unmanned. Where do you think the new aviation jobs will be coming from now and into the future. Time to change course Bend if your want to keep aviation jobs in your community food for thought.

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