Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
DORNIER HAS PUT half of its production workforce on short time after losing to Saab Aircraft on the order for 72 turboprop aircraft from US regional carrier Mesaba Airlines.
The short working begins on 1 April, and will continue for six months. What happens next, will depend on how the 328 orderbook looks, says Dornier parent Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA). The group is still looking for a buyer for the business.
The 30-seat Dornier 328 was short-listed with the 34-seat Saab 340 as a replacement for Mesaba's 26 Fairchild Metro IIIs and 25 Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8-100s. Saab's offer of a mix of new 340BPlus and used 340As won (Flight International, 20-26 March).
The cutbacks affect around 500 workers on the loss-making Dornier 328 programme at the company's Oberpfaffenhofen plant.
Orders have continued to trickle in, but Dornier has not captured the major business from the US regionals for which it had hoped following its massive launch order from Horizon Air. The future of this contract could itself be in question, given the lack of progress made by Dornier towards a stretched version of the 228.
The latest 328 orders, announced on 20 March, are for two 32-seat aircraft to Norway's Air Stord, and a further order from Thai-based PB Air, for an aircraft in the VIP/corporate configuration.
The new orders, bring the 328 orderbook to 90 firm orders and 72 options, for 22 customers. Fifty aircraft have been delivered.
Source: Flight International
