Boeing is to lay off 12,000 workers at the same time as the airframe maker announced it was restarted production of its troubled 737MAX model
The US firm is to lay-off 6,770 employees on top of the 5,520 who had applied for voluntary redundancy, and is exploring options for its international workforce.
“The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years,” said chief executive David Calhoun in a letter to employees.
“Which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices. We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery. I wish there were some other way,” he added.
Calhoun said the firm was seeing “some green shoots”, with some of its customers reporting that reservations are outpacing cancellations on their flights for the first time since the pandemic started.
“But these signs of eventual recovery do not mean the global health and economic crisis is over. Our industry will come back, but it will take some years to return to what it was just two months ago,” said the chief executive.
The firm is also moving forward with plans to restart 737 MAX production in Renton, Washington following its suspension in January. Boeing said that production would start at a low rate before ramping up later in the year.