Wichita ? Cessna Aircraft plans to cut about 900 jobs through early retirement incentives.

The offer applies to about 5,300 nonunion Wichita employees, the company said Thursday.

The company previously said it needed to reduce its work force because of slower sales but hoped to do it by attrition.

However, because of the economic slowdown, “our attrition has slowed down,” Cessna spokeswoman Marilyn Richwine said.

Therefore, “we’re looking at other ways to decrease our employment to fit more our level of production for next year,” Richwine said.

Cessna has not changed its plans to deliver more than 300 jets this year and about 250 next year, Richwine said.

The company did not rule out layoffs if the plan does not generate enough volunteers or if the order rate does not improve, it said in a statement.

Eligible employees must meet specific length-of-service requirements.

Cessna did not release terms of the offer.