Airbus Furloughs Staff at U.K. Site in Bid to Stem Cash Drain
Airbus Furloughs Staff at U.K. Site in Bid to Stem Cash Drain
(Bloomberg) --
Airbus SE is set to furlough around 3,200 U.K. staff at its wing plant in Broughton, just days after the company’s chief executive warned that the planemaker is bleeding cash.
The manufacturer said in a statement that it has agreed with unions to take advantage of the U.K. payroll support scheme. The move will impact the majority of production and related teams at the Welsh site, where around 6,000 people are based, while another site in Filton, England is not currently putting employees on leave.
Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury warned employees in a letter sent to staff Friday and seen by Bloomberg that Airbus would have to quickly cut costs to adapt to a shrinking aerospace sector, as the coronavirus pandemic hits demand for aircraft and airlines’ ability to pay for orders. A plan to slash output by one-third announced earlier this month may not reflect the worst-case scenario, he said.
Airbus is trying to judge the right level of production to support its supply chain through the crisis while also protecting its own cash flow. Faury previously warned that while the company would use government furlough schemes in the short-term, it could face tough decisions ahead on jobs.
The furlough periods will be staggered and all start in the next three weeks, lasting three weeks each. The pause in Wales comes after the European aerospace company put around 3,000 staff in France on leave through mid-May.
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