Cessna Aircraft to cut 1,300 employees

WICHITA, Kan., June 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. airplane manufacturing company, Cessna Aircraft Co., says it will cut 1,300 employees.

Cessna spokesman Bob Stangarone said 800 Cessna employees will receive 60-day layoff notices on June 19, while the remaining 500 employees will be informed in notices prior to Aug. 14, The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle reported Saturday.

Stangarone said the initial layoffs will be focused primarily on hourly production workers. Details regarding those being targeted by the second round of layoffs were not reported.

The Eagle said the layoffs by the Wichita-based company bring the total number of employees cut by Cessna since November to 8,200.

"This is a cyclical industry, and right now we're in the worst part of the cycle," Stangarone said. "While the economy appears to have reached the bottom, it's still going to be quite some time before we're going to see the kind of growth in the economy that will drive airplane sales."