Airbus to cut 15,000 jobs

Published by Ross Hindle on July 1st 2020, 3:11pm

Aviation industry giant and plane manufacturer Airbus has announced that it will look to cut some 15,000 jobs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This news follows a number of announcements from airlines to axe staff, cut costs and raise money through any means necessary.

The aerospace sector has arguably borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic as international and domestic air travel ground to a halt in the first quarter of the year.

Airbus has said it will be cutting these 15,000 jobs across the world, but that 1,700 of the cuts are set to take place in the UK.

The firm employs almost 135,000 people across the world, with around ten per cent of its staff in Britain.

Cuts are being spread across two commercial aviation plants in Broughton, Flintshire and Filton, Bristol.

Unite, the union, described the announcement as "another act of industrial vandalism".

Of the 1,700 cuts, around 1,100 are expected to be manufacturing jobs, with about 600 more to be office-based roles.

This will mean an overall decrease of about 15 per cent for the company's UK workforce.

BBC business correspondent Theo Leggett described the news as "inevitable".

"These cuts were inevitable. The only question was just how severe the pain would be.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has been little short of catastrophic for the airline industry. At one point in April, global air traffic was down by more than 90 per cent.

"When planes aren't flying, they aren't earning money. Yet they still need to be maintained and leasing costs or loans still need to be paid.

"The result? Airlines are struggling to survive and simply can't afford to take on new planes right now. And that, of course, means Airbus has had to curb production.

"Airbus has delayed these cuts and has made full use of support from governments. But ultimately it had little choice.

"And the pain being felt in places such as Broughton, Toulouse and Hamburg will echo through the entire supply chain."

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Ross Hindle
Content Director
July 1st 2020, 3:11pm

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