Good news despite the crisis.
Airbus is on the way to avoiding any layoffs for the 15,000 jobs it is cutting in order to adapt to the historic crisis in the sector caused by the pandemic, thanks to voluntary departures and state aid.
The aircraft manufacturer, which has reduced its production rates for commercial aircraft by nearly 40% in the face of the collapse in air traffic, does not foresee any layoffs in France, Germany or the United Kingdom, the countries most affected by the job cuts.
“Thanks to the effectiveness of all the social measures deployed so far, Airbus does not see the need for forced redundancies in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, pending the successful deployment of internal mobility measures in progress, ”explains the group in a statement sent to AFP.
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Airbus, which had 131,349 employees at December 31, announced at the end of June the elimination of 5,100 jobs in Germany, 5,000 in France, 1,700 in the United Kingdom, 900 in Spain and 1,300 at its other sites around the world.
The situation is not yet decided in Spain, where “the social process started later”.
The big competitor Boeing, which also faces the setbacks of its 737 MAX, for its part planned to cut 30,000 jobs in two years.
"Threats of layoffs are ruled out"
The job cuts within Airbus affect almost exclusively the commercial arm of the group, which employed nearly 78,500 people at the end of 2020. The announcement was made on Wednesday during a European works council during which Airbus “ confirmed to social partners that its Covid-19 adaptation plan would be formally concluded by summer 2021 at the latest ”.
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In Germany, it is a "great relief", "the threats of dismissals are ruled out" and "instead, intelligent solutions have been found", welcomed in a statement Daniel Friedrich, head of the IG Metall union for the Hamburg region (north).
Voluntary departures, partial unemployment, retraining: to achieve this, the company and the unions have deployed a whole arsenal of measures.
As in Germany, the French long-term partial activity scheme (APLD) set up by the State has made it possible to save a large proportion of jobs.
The increased investment by States to accelerate the development of low-carbon aircraft has also made it possible to preserve research and development skills.
Traffic that should not return to its level before 2023
In France for example, as part of its plan to support the aeronautics sector, the government has allocated 1.5 billion euros by 2022 to finance research in this direction.
The aircraft manufacturer recorded in 2020 a net loss of 1.1 billion euros - when Boeing lost its side 11.9 billion dollars - for a turnover down 29%.
While traffic should only return to its 2019 level between 2023 and 2025, the European aircraft manufacturer plans to deliver in 2021 “the same number of commercial aircraft as in 2020”.
