Airbus is expected to cut around 15,000 jobs across its global workforce.
The commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40 per cent in recent months owing to the ongoing pandemic crisis. The aircraft manufacturer said that it doesn’t expect air traffic to recover to pre-Covid-19 levels before 2023 and potentially as late as 2025.
The company plans to cut 5,000 positions in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 in the UK and 1,300 at Airbus’ other worldwide sites.
In April, Airbus announced that it would cut aircraft production by a third. The production rate of its A320 aircraft will fall to 40 per month from 60, while the company will produce two A330 aircraft per month instead of six and will cut its production of A350 aircraft to six per month from ten.
Airbus chief executive officer Guillaume Faury said, “Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced. The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers.
“To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures. Our management team and our board of directors are committed to limiting the social impact of this adaptation.”
