Short answer
The Wichita metro had 60 aerospace product and parts manufacturing establishments in 2023, employing 25,141 people on a $2.33 billion payroll (Census County Business Patterns); 52 are in Sedgwick County. The Greater Wichita Partnership's September 2026 list puts Boeing (13,000 local employees, including the former Spirit AeroSystems) and Textron Aviation (11,000) at the top, followed by Bombardier and GE Aviation. Boeing completed its acquisition of Spirit on 8 December 2025.
- 60 aerospace manufacturing establishments and 25,141 employees in 2023; average pay $92,559.
- The 8 establishments with 500 or more employees hold at least 80% of the jobs.
- Boeing (13,000) and Textron Aviation (11,000) are the region's two largest employers, per the Greater Wichita Partnership.
- Federal aerospace manufacturing contracts performed in the metro totaled $562.8 million in fiscal 2025, mostly to Textron Aviation.
- AgEagle Aerial Systems is the one listed aerospace company whose latest 10-K gives a Wichita headquarters.
On this page
This report is for engineers, machinists and job seekers sizing up Wichita's aerospace employers, buyers looking for a supplier in the region, and B2B sellers working the Air Capital supply chain.
Wichita aerospace in Census data
US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 3364 (Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing), Wichita, KS Metro Area (CBSA 48620):
| Measure (2023) | Wichita metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 60 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 25,141 |
| Annual payroll | $2,327,031,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 419.0 |
| Average annual pay | $92,559 |
| Share of US establishments | 3.16% of 1,901 |
Sedgwick County has 52 of the 60 establishments and 24,579 of the jobs; Sumner County has 4, with an employee figure the Census Bureau flags as high-noise. Across Kansas, the same dataset counts 81 aerospace manufacturing establishments and 27,939 employees, so metro Wichita holds about 90% of the state's aerospace manufacturing jobs.
Size: eight big plants and a supplier base
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 11 |
| 5 to 9 | 3 |
| 10 to 19 | 8 |
| 20 to 49 | 12 |
| 50 to 99 | 6 |
| 100 to 249 | 10 |
| 250 to 499 | 2 |
| 500 to 999 | 4 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
That's 22 establishments with 1 to 19 employees, 18 with 20 to 99 and 20 with 100 or more. If every site under 500 sat at the top of its size class, the 52 of them would employ 4,893 people, so the eight largest hold at least 20,248 jobs.
By code, 48 establishments make aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment and 11 are aircraft manufacturers; the Bureau flags both employee figures as high-noise, so we don't repeat them. That mix is Wichita's signature: aerostructures and parts for other companies' airliners, and complete business jets and turboprops.
The largest employers
The Greater Wichita Partnership's major employers list, updated in September 2026 from Wichita Business Journal, CEDBR and its own data, ranks the region's aerospace employers by local full-time equivalent staff:
| Employer | Product or service | Local FTEs |
|---|---|---|
| The Boeing Company | Aircraft assemblies | 13,000 |
| Textron Aviation (Beechcraft and Cessna) | Aircraft manufacturer | 11,000 |
| McConnell Air Force Base | Air Force base | 6,000 |
| National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) | Research institution | 1,800 |
| Bombardier | Aircraft manufacturing | 1,400 |
| GE Aviation | Aircraft engine manufacturer | 750 |
Boeing's line includes the former Spirit AeroSystems, which Boeing bought: Spirit's 8-K says the merger closed on 8 December 2025, alongside the sale of Spirit's Airbus-related work to Airbus. Boeing's 2025 10-K lists Wichita among the major locations of both Commercial Airplanes and Defense, Space & Security.
Listed companies
No large listed aerospace company is headquartered here any more. AgEagle Aerial Systems, a drone maker, gives 8201 E. 34th Street N, Wichita as its principal executive office on its 2025 10-K, even though EDGAR's address field still shows Allen, Texas. It reported $12.8 million of 2025 revenue and 58 full-time employees. Textron, Textron Aviation's parent, is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.
Federal contracts performed in the metro
USAspending shows $562.8 million of federal contract obligations in fiscal 2025 coded to aerospace manufacturing (NAICS 3364) with a place of performance in Butler, Harvey, Sedgwick or Sumner County. The Department of Defense obligated $414.2 million and the Department of Transportation $148.2 million.
| Recipient (as named in the federal record) | FY2025 obligations |
|---|---|
| Textron Aviation | $467.0 million |
| Textron Aviation Defense | $40.0 million |
| D-J Engineering | $38.0 million |
| Magee Technologies | $5.4 million |
| Learjet | $3.2 million |
| Weckworth Manufacturing | $1.9 million |
Commercial aircraft work isn't federally contracted, so much of Wichita's output never appears in these records; treat the table as the defense and government slice of the market.
Working with Wichita suppliers
The Greater Wichita Partnership counts more than 350 aerospace suppliers in the region and more than 450 precision machine shops, tool and die shops and other subcontract manufacturers; the Kansas Department of Commerce counts 450 supply chain companies statewide. Census data, which classes many of those shops as machine shops (70 in the metro) or other industries, finds 48 aircraft parts establishments. Use both: the partnership's figures for the size of the supplier pool, the Census counts for the core.
When vetting a Wichita supplier, confirm its AS9100 certificate in the IAQG's OASIS database, its FAA approvals where it sells parts into the civil aftermarket (a Parts Manufacturer Approval under 14 CFR Part 21, subpart K) and its Kansas registration in the Secretary of State's business entity search.
Prospecting the Air Capital supply chain
| Account | Count (CBP 2023) | Who decides | What they buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small shops, 1 to 19 employees | 22 | Owner | Machines, tooling, financing, workforce |
| Mid-size suppliers, 20 to 249 | 28 | General manager, plant manager, quality | ERP and quality systems, automation, recruiting |
| Large sites, 250 or more | 10 | Procurement, site leadership, facilities | Strategic sourcing, staffing, plant services |
Production rates at the two anchors drive everything below them, so watch their announcements and Boeing's quarterly filings. Average pay here ($92,559) is lower than in Seattle or Dallas-Fort Worth, so expect price to weigh heavily in a Wichita shop's buying decision.
Illustrative example. The integrator, its prices and its sales are invented; the size counts are from Census data.
Prairie Automation (prairieauto.example) installs robotic drilling and riveting cells. Its targets are the 28 mid-size suppliers and the 10 large sites, 38 accounts. If six buy a cell over two years at $650,000 each, that's $3.9 million, or $1.95 million a year. It opens with the plant manager and brings NIAR's research ties into the pitch, because many local engineers trained there. Bebop can find shops matching "aerostructures suppliers in Sedgwick County with 50 to 250 employees running manual drilling" and explain each match.
Local sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Greater Wichita Partnership major employers | The region's largest employers by local FTEs |
| Greater Wichita Partnership aerospace overview | Supplier counts, NIAR and workforce training |
| Kansas Department of Commerce, aerospace and defense | State exports, supply chain and incentives |
| NIAR at Wichita State University | Testing, certification and research partners |
| USAspending | Federal awards by recipient and place of performance |
Next step: compare Wichita's anchors with the national leaders in the largest aerospace companies list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Major Employers, Greater Wichita Partnership, updated September 2026
- Aerospace overview, Greater Wichita Partnership, accessed 30 October 2026
- Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. Form 8-K (completion of merger), US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 8 December 2025
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 (Item 2, Properties), US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 30 January 2026
- AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 31 March 2026
- Textron Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR), 11 February 2026
- Aerospace and Defense, Kansas Department of Commerce, accessed 30 October 2026
- Advanced Search: prime contract obligations, FY2025, NAICS 3364, place of performance Wichita metro counties, USAspending.gov, US Department of the Treasury, accessed 30 October 2026
- 14 CFR 21.301, Parts Manufacturer Approvals: applicability, US Government Publishing Office (govinfo), 1 January 2025 edition
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many aerospace companies are in Wichita?
Census County Business Patterns counted 60 aerospace product and parts manufacturing establishments in the Wichita metro in 2023, employing 25,141 people, 52 of them in Sedgwick County. The Greater Wichita Partnership counts more than 350 aerospace suppliers in the region, because many machine shops and subcontractors are classed in other industries in Census data.
Who are the largest aerospace employers in Wichita?
The Greater Wichita Partnership's September 2026 list ranks Boeing first with 13,000 local full-time equivalent employees, including the former Spirit AeroSystems, then Textron Aviation (Beechcraft and Cessna) with 11,000. Bombardier has 1,400 and GE Aviation 750. McConnell Air Force Base (6,000) and the National Institute for Aviation Research (1,800) are also large aerospace employers.
Is Spirit AeroSystems still a public company?
No. Spirit AeroSystems' 8-K filed on 8 December 2025 says its merger with Boeing, the sale of its Airbus-related businesses to Airbus and the sale of its Malaysian unit were completed that day, and a Form 15 deregistering its shares followed on 18 December 2025. Its Wichita operations are now part of Boeing, which the Greater Wichita Partnership lists as the region's largest employer.
Why is Wichita known for aircraft manufacturing?
It has built aircraft for more than a century. The Kansas Department of Commerce says Kansas builds about one-third of US-made general aviation planes, and Census data shows the Wichita metro's 60 aerospace manufacturing establishments employ 25,141 people. Clyde Cessna moved his aircraft factory into Wichita in 1916, according to the Greater Wichita Partnership.
How much do aerospace jobs in Wichita pay?
Aerospace manufacturing establishments in the Wichita metro paid $2.33 billion in 2023 to 25,141 employees, an average of $92,559, according to Census County Business Patterns. That's below the averages in Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth, partly reflecting lower living costs. The figure blends engineers, mechanics, assemblers and managers and uses employment in the week of March 12.