The aeronautical constructor Airbus announced on Tuesday a plan to cut staff to cope with the drop in activity due to the coronavirus health crisis, which foresees the suppression of 15,000 jobs, 900 of them in Spain.
The French company justified the measure by a decrease in commercial aviation activity of almost 40% in recent months, which places the industry as a whole "in an unprecedented crisis," according to a statement.
After analyzing customer demand in recent months, Airbus forecasts that the reductions will affect around 5,000 people in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain, 1,700 in the United Kingdom and 1,300 in other centers in the rest of the world. The French company's workforce is currently 135,000 people, with a strong presence of older workers from the time of the A320 model.
Airbus has about 12,600 employees in Spain, of which 7,560 work in the Defense and Space division (60% of the total); another 4,410 are in the commercial aircraft division, and the remaining 630 are in the helicopter division. The six industrial plants it has in Spain are in Madrid, Illescas (Toledo), Seville and Cádiz.
The financial health of the aerospace group is part of an agenda for the company committee meeting on Tuesday. The company will inform unions of the status of aircraft orders and cancellations as it prepares to maintain lower production than previously planned.
Airbus is expected to juggle its response to the aerospace industry, which is facing its worst crisis due to the sudden interruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the added pressure to make even the smallest cuts following plans to support the industry. Aerospace announced by France and Germany.
Michel Pierre, representing the CFDT union at Airbus, said the company had refused direct state intervention in its capital. The layoffs would be "totally unacceptable," he said.
Industry sources say Airbus is basing the restructuring on a 40% drop in aircraft production for two years.
The company's chief programs officer, meanwhile, said they were slowing down a push toward high-margin services as a result of a drop in air travel, but maintaining their diversification strategy.
Some industry sources say Airbus has abandoned its goal of doubling service revenues to $ 10 billion this decade and instead transferred personnel to other lines of business.
