Sen. Moran visits Wichita aviation supplier as uncertainty continues with grounded 737 Max

New fallout from the production halt of the 737 Max jet comes with a Wichita aviation parts supplier this week having its first round of layoffs.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran toured Cox Machine Thursday to see firsthand the impact from the continued grounding of the 737 Max.

Moran says getting the 737 Max back up to safety standards and into the air again is a priority for him. At Cox Machine Thursday, he expressed the importance of that happening sooner rather than later.

"It's a loss of work, a lot of loss of work," says Joe Pulliam, a supervisor at Cox Machine. "Spirit is a majority of what we do here, and the Max program was quite a bit."

Despite having shorter hours, Pulliam says he's glad he still has a job.

""It's gonna go down hill, the aircraft industry," he says. "It's always a little scary when something like this happens."

Moran says he's trying to help limit the negative, hopefully short-term impact of the 737 Max's halted production, stressing the importance it has on Kansas.

"Everything is no okay, are there are significant challenges that are going to arise (not just) in Kansas, in Wichita, in south central Kansas, but across the country as a result of the grounding, the continued grounding of the 737 Max.'

Moran says he's expressed the concern to the president, the FAA and Boeing.

"Just this week, I've had a phone call between me and the new CEO of Boeing which reiterated again the need for Boeing to cooperate with the FAA to get themselves in a position to do all the things necessary to get the Max back to safety so it can be in the air again," Moran says.