Airbus has this afternoon detailed its plans to shed 10,000 positions over the next four years, part of a string of restructuring measures included in its Power8 cost cutting programme.
Announcing the programme this afternoon in Toulouse, after this morning briefing unions, Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said the cuts would be shared across the Airbus partner countries. Specifically it will see 3,700 positions cut at Airbus in Germany, 3,200 in France, 1,600 in the UK, 400 in Spain and 1,100 from the Toulouse-based Airbus Central Entity unit.
The widespread restructuring plan also set out the share of future final assembly lines between Toulouse and Hamburg. Toulouse will be the sole site for final assembly of the new A350XWB programme, while in Hamburg Airbus will immediately establish a third Airbus A320 final assembly line. The German site will also perform final assembly of the new single-aisle family when launched.
Cabin installations remain in Hamburg and A380 deliveries will be performed both from Hamburg and Toulouse.
The restructuring efforts are aimed at delivering EBIT contributions of €2.1 billion ($2.8 billion) from 2010 onwards and additional €5 billion of cumulative cash flow from 2007 to 2010. Airbus will make a provision of €680 million in the first quarter of 2007 to cover the reduced overhead costs, particularly relating to the job cuts.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
