A slowing economy in Tulsa

Tulsa's economy is about average compared to the rest of the country. That word comes after area business leaders met for the 2002 Economic Outlook Conference. News on Six reporter Heather Brooker

Wednesday, November 14th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa's economy is about average compared to the rest of the country. That word comes after area business leaders met for the 2002 Economic Outlook Conference. News on Six reporter Heather Brooker was there and took a closer look at some industries that might not be doing as well as others.

Many different industries were represented at Wednesday's conference, reflecting the myriad of industries in our city. But as you might expect, one of the largest industries in Tulsa, aerospace, projects the largest economic decline for the next year. Hundreds of area businesses attended the conference, designed to give the status of Tulsa's economy.

From travel and tourism to the manufacturing industry, most everyone reported declines of some kind. Specifically, Steve Hendrickson from Boeing says they've had major cutbacks since the September 11th attacks. And it doesn't look like the aerospace economy will be returning to normal any time soon. "Major concerns are restoring confidence in the flying public that air travel is safe. Itâ€™s really important to get people back in the air right now that will help our airlines get healthy which will help the defense business get healthy which will help everybody come back to the stronger economy."

Hendrickson says the slow down in travel will hit ten times harder and last three times longer than the travel slow down after the Gulf War. He says it could take about three and a half years to get the airlines back to normal.