Top > Business > 2007 > March > 2007-03-11

Airbus will Layoff 10 Thousand Employees

The European airplane manufacturer, Airbus, announced new reorganization plans, a week overdue. Before the said plans were announced a French worker`s union announced that if the company intends to sell or close factories in the country, they will see this action as a declaration of war. Airbus will cut 10 thousand jobs, during the next 4 years. The airplane manufacturer`s mother company, EADS, said, in a press conference, in which the restructuring dubbed Power 8, was announced. Airbus CEO, Louis Gallois, said that the layoffs will be distributed fairly between the different countries.

EADS also announced it intends to open Airbus`s factories in Meaulte, France, Nordenham, Germany and Filton, UK to investors, and had already received offers to purchase the sites. The company said it intends to sell or close 3 additional factories in Saint-Nazaire-Ville, France and two other factories in Germany. According to the workers unions 4,300 employees in France, 3,700 in Germany, approximately 1,600 workers in the UK and another additional 400 employees in Spain. Airbus currently employs 56 thousand employees.

Sources said Airbus is looking for investors interested in running the production sites in Toulouse, France. They will be considered suppliers for the company`s plane programs. The sources added that according to the plan the final assembly of the Airbus A350 will take place in France, and will not be shared between France and Germany. In return, the future production of the new model of the A320 will take place in Germany. The company planned to publish its plans last week, but the announcement was postponed due to disagreements between different European companies owning shares in the company, especially between Germany and France.