Fairchild Dornier has laid off 1,650 employees, the bulk of them from the frozen 728/928 programme, according to bankruptcy administrator Eberhard Braun.
All have been paid since July by a "social plan" arrangement, under which the German government guaranteed 80% of the salary for three months. Fairchild Dornier laid off the workers rather than try to extend the scheme, saying it could not justify "additional large commitments".
Russian industrial group Sibal is still discussing the possibility of buying the 728/928 line, but neither company will comment on how talks are progressing (Flight International, 13-19 August).
The company still employs 1,600 workers in its Airbus aerostructures, maintenance and customer services divisions, all of which, it says, are profitable and are likely to continue to be so after 30 September.
In addition, the recent floods in central Europe may have put paid to hopes of rescuing the 328JET programme. Richard Schrieber of potential investor US investment partnership Diemling Schrieber & Park says the company was negotiating the sale of several 328JETs to the German government for VIP transport, surveillance and maritime patrol duties.
"This would have kept the line going for at least...a few months," and would have made the programme a more appealing proposition. But "what might have been possible two weeks ago is now not realistic," due to the calls for up to c10 billion ($9.9 billion) in flood aid, he admits.
Time is running out for the programme - current contracts will be fulfiled by the end of September, when the line will be sold or shut down, says a company source.
Source: Flight International
