Hawker Beechcraft files for bankruptcy

The company received a $400 million commitment to keep its
operations going and continue paying employees, suppliers and vendors.

{mosads}“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with our
largest lenders and bondholders on a solution to stabilize and improve our
capital structure,” Hawker Beechcraft CEO Robert Miller said in a statement.

The bankruptcy is another blow to Wichita’s aerospace
industry; Boeing decided to
shutter its plant there in January.

Hawker Beechcraft makes both military and commercial planes.
The company has been locked in a battle with Brazilian aerospace firm Embraer
and Sierra Nevada Corp. over a $355 million Light Air Support Air
Force contract. The contract was awarded to Embraer and Sierra Nevada Corp.
last year, before the Air Force canceled the contract and restarted the
competition this year when Hawker Beechcraft sued.