Airbus CEO Tells Managers He Seeks Jobs Deal by Early Summer

Airbus SE Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury has told senior managers the European planemaker must “act fast” to slash jobs as it confronts the sharpest downturn ever in the aviation industry.

The world’s largest commercial aircraft manufacturer aims to secure union agreements on cutbacks by early summer, Faury said Thursday in the video-conferenced meeting, people familiar with the matter said. Airbus requires “proactive, radical and rapid action” to stem cash outflows that the CEO has called a threat to the company’s survival, the people said.

The Toulouse, France-based planemaker is preparing for a permanent staff downsizing after demand for new aircraft suddenly evaporated because of the coronavirus crisis. Fear of infection and measures in place to fight the disease have cut drastically into air travel, forcing airlines to park planes, defer deliveries and seek bailouts to remain solvent.

Discussions have begun with labor groups in Germany, France and Spain, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, with the formal process expected to start next week. The number of positions to be eliminated hasn’t yet been decided, according to the people, who asked not to be named disclosing private information.

Read more: Airbus to Cut Jobs After Virus Shatters Demand for New Jets

Airbus declined to comment on internal communications. The company said Wednesday it “will continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the future of Airbus in cooperation with its social partners.”

Cutting Back

In the address, Faury dismissed a report that 10,000 jobs were at stake as speculation, though he didn’t give an alternative figure, the people said. The company has about 134,000 employees worldwide.

Faury said he doesn’t expect an aerospace recovery until 2023, with the market for wide-body planes typically used for long-distance routes of particular concern. The company chief acknowledged that Airbus may have to make further production cuts depending on how the situation evolves, after slashing its target for output by more than one-third.

Airbus executives will thrash out an initial plan on a call next week, the people said Wednesday. The timing for arriving at a final figure for redundancies will depend on negotiations with labor unions. The process will also include office staff at the planemaker’s headquarters in Toulouse, they said.

The first priority is to cut back on some temporary and subcontracted workers, including 1,100 in Germany, with similar measures likely in France and the U.K., one of the people said.

The actions will hit Airbus’s largest division, commercial aircraft, harder than helicopters and defense. Employees on wide-body aircraft programs, a part of the market that will take longer to recover, could absorb more job losses than narrow-body workers, the person said.

“The prospect of job losses across the aerospace industry has been rumbling around now for at least a month,” said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Jefferies. “Aircraft deliveries cannot come down by 35% without there being consequences.”

Airbus shares are down 62% this year.