Print edition: 
President Obama has not responded to the Machinists union's invitation to visit Wichita, the union's international president said.
Obama has twice been invited to Wichita by Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The effort has been joined by the governor, senators and leaders of Wichita's planemakers, Buffenbarger said.
They want Obama to come to Wichita to see how the downturn and negative remarks made by Congress about the use of private jets has hurt the business aircraft industry and led to thousands of job cuts, he said.
They also want Obama to speak out about the benefits of business aircraft.
"They just don't respond to us," Buffenbarger said of the White House.
Buffenbarger urged attendees at the October National Business Aviation Association's annual meeting and convention in Orlando to call the White House switchboard and leave a message for Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, asking Obama to visit.
The perception that business jets are "fancy toys for fat cats" has had a detrimental effect on the industry, Buffenbarger said at NBAA. "Business aviation is vital to America's economic recovery."
In March, city leaders sent Obama a letter inviting him to visit Wichita. And City Council members voted unanimously for a resolution to that effect.
There has not been an answer to the invitation.
"We just haven't heard anything... back," said Dale Goter, the city's government relations manager, although communication between the mayor and the White House continues.
