Boeing to cut nearly 7,000 jobs as coronavirus batters aircraft demand
Aerospace giant Boeing will lay off 6,770 workers this week, with several thousand more set to be cut over the coming months.
In an email to staff today, chief executive Dave Calhoun shared the news, saying: “I wish there was another way”.
In April, the planemaker said that it would cut 10 per cent of its 160,000 global workforce this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The spread of the disease, which has hammered global aviation, has forced Boeing to cut production on a number of its aircraft models.
European rival Airbus has also been similarly impacted by the crisis.
Calhoun wrote: “The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices.
“We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery”.
The current crisis came with Boeing already reeling from the fallout over the grounding of the 737 Max due to two fatal crashes last year.
Last month the firm raised $25bn through its largest ever debt sale in order to reinforce its finances.
Despite the devastation, Calhoun said that “green shoots” were beginning to show as some states began to reopen their economies.
However, he warned that “it will take some years for our industry to return to what it was just two months ago”.