Boeing confirmed on Wednesday that it will reduce its global workforce by about 10% and the production of its long-haul planes to save money, when it is hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic which decimates air transport and orders for 'planes.
Read also: Coronavirus: Boeing reduces production rates for long-haul 787 and 777 / 777X
These job cuts, which have already started, will be done through a voluntary redundancy program and dry layoffs. They mainly concern the civil aviation division, said managing director David Calhoun, in an internal letter to employees on the sidelines of the publication of first quarter results.
In mid-April, sources familiar with the matter had told AFP that this austerity measure could affect at least 7,000 employees, Boeing employing 70,000 people in Washington state, in the northwest of the United States, where find most of its civil aircraft factories. It has an 787 assembly site in South Carolina.
Boeing has asked for at least $ 60 billion in government assistance for him and his 17,000 contractors, but does not say whether he intends to apply for the $ 17 billion promised to national security firms.
If discussions with the Treasury should start soon, according to sources familiar with the matter, Mr. Calhoun has already warned that an entry by the federal state into capital was a red line not to be crossed.
