Boeing Wichita May Hire Additional Workers by End of Decade. (Originated from The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)

WICHITA, Kan.--Mar. 31--Employment cutbacks at Boeing Wichita are over and because of improved business prospects and the likelihood that more parts production will be moved here, 20,000 people may again be working for the company in Wichita by the end of the decade, two Boeing division presidents said Wednesday.

Although hiring will eventually erase the elimination of 4,500 jobs at Boeing Wichita during 1993, it's unlikely that Wichita will become the final assembly point for any of Boeing's airliners.

Ron Woodard, president of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said the company is no longer facing a shortage of Puget Sound assembly space, as it was three years ago. Since then, Boeing's airline customers started into a dive and delayed or cancelled orders for new planes. Should demand explode again to beyond 500 airplanes a year, Boeing Wichita would again be a candidate for a final assembly line.

Still, for those concerned that some other city might try to lure away Kansas' largest employer, forget it. "I can't …