Airbus has said it plans to cut 15,000 more jobs, over 10 per cent of its global workforce, as it continues to feel the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The redundancies will be made across its worldwide bases, including the UK, Germany, Spain and elsewhere.
Around 1,700 of these job losses will be employees in the UK, subject to discussion with unions, which have vocally opposed the idea.
The job cuts are expected to be finalised by mid-2021, however Airbus has stated it hopes to cater the majority of losses through early retirement of staff, or voluntary redundancies.
The move is not surprising, as airlines around the world are continuing to face the ongoing economic fallout of the pandemic, which has seen passenger numbers fall by over 90 per cent year-on-year.
The unprecedented drop in passenger demand has resulted in airlines grounding planes, cancelling upcoming orders, and even retiring aircraft years ahead of schedule.
As such, Airbus has reported a 40 per cent drop in production over recent months, and doesn’t expect conditions to improve for several years.
“Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced,” said chief executive Guillaume Faury.
“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.”
The news comes as the latest in a long line of industry job losses, with recent additions including easyJet and Air France.
On Tuesday, UK-based easyJet announced it would close three of its 29 bases, and cut about 2,000 staff, more than 13 per cent of its workforce.
This is said to include 727 of its British pilots, a third of the carrier’s pilots.
“The lower demand environment means we need fewer aircraft and have less opportunity to work for our people. We are committed to working constructively with our employee representatives across the network with the aim of minimising job losses as far as possible,” easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren said.
Meanwhile, Air France has said it will shed over 7,500 employees in the next three years, in an effort to restructure off the back of its recently acquired €7 billion government bailout.
The French carrier noted that the government funds “will enable the group to withstand the crisis in the short term and is accompanied by strong commitments to ensure its sustainability”.
However, Air France noted that it now must “accelerate” its restructuring plans, which include these redundancies, in order to “regain its competitiveness and strengthen its leading position in terms of sustainable transition”.
The main airline will see 6,560 jobs lost by the end of 2022, while its subsidiary, Hop, will see almost half of its 2,420-strong workforce cut.
Despite this, Air France stated it will likely still be overstaffed by “around 820” employees by the end of 2022.
