Airbus to Cut 15,000 Jobs Worldwide Due to Coronavirus Crisis, Announces 1,700 Layoffs in UK

Washington, June 30: The world's largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Tuesday announced it will cut nearly 15,000 jobs worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic. Airbus also said it will layoff 1,700 employees in the United Kingdom as part of a major restructuring as the aviation industry faces an "unprecedented crisis". In a statement, Airbus said the job cuts will happen by the summer of 2021 as the commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by close to 40 percent in recent months. Airbus Concludes ATTOL with Fully Autonomous Flight Tests.

"Airbus has announced plans to adapt its global workforce and resize its commercial aircraft activity in response to the COVID-19 crisis. This adaptation is expected to result in a reduction of around 15,000 positions no later than summer 2021," the European aircraft maker said. The company added that it does not expect international flight activities to recover from the coronavirus impact before 2023.

Of the 15,000 layoffs, Airbus will cut 5000 jobs in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 in UK and 1,300 at other sites of the company in different parts of the world. "Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. Boeing, Airbus Study COVID-19 Behaviour During Air Travel.

"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," Faury added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2020 11:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).