Reply #9: Most of this can be traced back...

[punpirate]

... to the fraud, insider contract manipulation and mismanagement related to the leasing arrangement that Boeing tried to work through Congress. Boeing tried to threaten the government with job loss when the leasing scheme was in trouble, by announcing they would have to close the Wichita facility, since that was the designated location to do the conversions before and after the lease period.

That didn't work, so they're selling it off. As you say, this place will likely end up in the hands of Airbus. Any way one looks at this, though, it's probably going to mean a significant eventual job loss.