Airbus makes ‘minor adjustments’ to Wichita workforce

Airbus is moving some engineering work on its newest commercial airplane, which will affect its employment in Wichita.

Airbus Americas confirmed in an e-mail to The Eagle that it decided to shift some work on its A350 XWB passenger jet to Europe after a month-long evaluation of where it places its work.

“The Airbus Wichita team has been engaged on the A350 XWB since the earliest days of the program,” the Airbus Americas statement said. “As the A350 program is now transitioning from a development program into a serial production program it is normal for the company to align the work with those locations that are best positioned to support the production ramp up.”

The company said in the statement that it has informed Wichita employees of the transfer of work.

“As a result, we will be making minor adjustments to the size of our workforce,” the statement said.

An Airbus Americas spokeswoman said she could not provide exact numbers on how many jobs would be affected, nor what the total employment is at its offices in Old Town. “The numbers are in flux,” Mary Anne Greczyn said in an e-mail.

As of March the company had about 400 employees in Wichita. The Wichita office, which operates as Airbus Americas Engineering, does design and analysis work on the primary structures of all major Airbus aircraft, including fuselages and wings.

“Rest assured, Airbus continues to be committed to Wichita, as evidenced by our recent announcement about joining the WSU Innovation Campus,” the statement said.

In March the company announced it planned to move its offices from two buildings in Old Town to a new building to be built on Wichita State University’s campus.

This story was originally published May 14, 2015 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Airbus makes ‘minor adjustments’ to Wichita workforce."