Hawker’s 2Q earnings and its backlog shrink

The possibility of Hawker Beechcraft moving some of its Wichita-based manufacturing elsewhere came up again early last month with the release of the company’s second-quarter earnings.

In a conference call, CEO Bill Boisture referred to that possibility as part of a larger internal process called “Project Challenge” to reposition the company to meet new challenges, not the least of which is a recession that is slow to release its hold on the economy.

In its second-quarter report, Hawker Beechcraft reported net sales of $639.3 million, a decrease of $177 million compared with last year’s second quarter. Total aircraft deliveries came in at 54, compared with 78 for the same period last year.  And the backlog, which was valued at $3.1 billion on March 28, shrank to $2.4 billion as of June 27. This reduction, according to Hawker Beechcraft, reflected a NetJets order cancellation that lopped about $400 million off the backlog.

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