Pan-European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus has announced a swingeing set of job cuts that will see the axe fall across the continent, although the losses are not as bad as first feared.
Nonetheless, some 10,000 jobs will disappear with France and Germany bearing ” coincidentally or otherwise ” the lion”s share of the redundancies at 3,700 each, the UK with 1,600, Spain with 400 and Airbus CE in France with 1,000 and the rest borne by contractors, who will see immediate reductions.
The jobs issue has been a political hot potato of late, involving discussions between all three leaders in the UK, France and Germany, while the unions have also not been slow to rattle sabres, with the Confederation Nationale du Travail, (France) the GMB, (UK) and European Metalworkers Union (Europe) all expressing reservations.
The so-called Power8 solution that will see the cuts implemented during the next four years, will see no forced redundancies according to Airbus, but a company statement adds ominously: ”Should these schemes not generate the expected level of reductions within the next 12-18 months, other measures will have to be considered to fully achieve the cost saving targets”.
Airbus” much publicised difficulties have been headline news for the past few months as the manufacturer struggles with overruns on its ultra-large A380 programme that has seen delivery rescheduling and negative press. Development of the A350 XWB has also been tweaked, with workshare responsibility shared between Germany and France, (35%) the UK (20%) and Spain (10%).
Some good news in the gloom however, comes as Airbus president and CEO, Louis Gallois, revealed that it is considering partnerships at bases in Filton, Meaulte and Nordenham to move from metallic to composite design and manufacturing technology.
A raft of further internal and work sharing changes is also under way, with Gallois commenting: ”None of these changes will be easy, but they are essential to securing the future of Airbus as a world-leading aircraft manufacturer for the long-term.”