SNECMA PRESIDENT Bernard Dufour has revealed plans to relocate key sites within the group, while further job losses are expected as part of the company's effort to become profitable.
Military-engine activity will be moved from Paris to the Corbeil plant, while the headquarters of subsidiaries such as Hispano-Suiza and Sochata will be centralised in Paris.
Elecma's factory at Suresnes will be closed and its activities moved to the engine-assembly plant at Villaroche. The composites plant at Villaroche may be moved to Le Havre, or sold altogether, and the workforce at the old Hispano-Suiza factory at Bois-Colombes will be split between Gennevilliers and Le Havre.
Staff discontent with the moves has harmed production, but Dufour appears determined to press ahead with the measures. He has told unions that Snecma needs up to Fr7 billion ($1.45 billion) of Government recapitalisation to solve its debt problem and pay for restructuring.
"We are in a state of quasi-bankruptcy," he told the workforce, after recently revealing 1994 losses of Fr2.2 billion. He has also said that he expects each member of the workforce to generate Fr1 million-worth of production a year. This means that further job cuts from the current 11,000 are likely on top of the 500 planned for this year.
Source: Flight International