Wichita ? Engineers at the Boeing Co.’s defense operations in Wichita on Tuesday overwhelmingly accepted a new contract offer that looks a lot like the one they turned down earlier this month.

In their second election, 73 percent of the engineers who voted approved of the three-year contract. The vote was 184-69 to accept the company’s latest proposal.

The contract covers 788 engineers represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace at Boeing’s defense operations in Wichita.

“The engineers were ready to move on, rather than fuss over the contract,” said SPEEA executive director Charles Bofferding.

Boeing spokesman Forrest Gossett said the company was obviously pleased that engineers accepted the region-leading contract.

“We are happy to be competitive moving forward,” Gossett said.

This time around, union leaders took no stand on whether workers should vote to accept or reject the shorter-term contract. SPEEA had recommended rejection of Boeing’s earlier four-year deal, and its members obliged.

That allowed negotiators to switch the contract to three years, the same length of the contract for Boeing engineers in the Puget Sound area. The new offer also made a few other adjustments, such as a side letter establishing a committee to determine fair market pay.

SPEEA Midwest director Bob Brewer said members have a more secure feeling by having a three-year contract like that of their colleagues in the Puget Sound.

By returning to negotiations after the initial rejection, the union got the company to agree to form a joint compensation committee to determine appropriate market base pay for aerospace engineers.

The latest deal offers the same 4.5 percent lump sum bonus before year’s end. It creates wage pool increases of 5 percent in the first year, 4 percent in the second and 4 percent in the final year. Individual employees are guaranteed a 1 percent increase annually and a total 4.5 percent over the three years.

During the last election, 71 percent of voting members turned down the company’s four-year contract offer.