Boeing slashes 12,000 jobs as virus seizes travel industry

Boeing is cutting more than 12,000 jobs through layoffs and buyouts as the coronavirus pandemic seizes the travel industry. And the aircraft maker says more cuts are coming.

One of the U.S.’s biggest manufacturers said Wednesday that it will lay off 6,770 U.S. employees this week, and another 5,520 workers are taking buyout offers to leave voluntarily in the coming weeks.

Boeing had said it would cut 10 per cent of a workforce that numbered about 160,000. A Boeing spokesperson said Wednesday’s actions represent the largest number of job cuts, but several thousand additional jobs will be eliminated in the next few months.

The layoffs are expected to be concentrated in the Seattle area, home to Boeing’ s commercial air planes business. The company said additional job cuts will be made in international locations.

Chicago-based Boeing’s defence and space division has remained relatively stable, helping offset the decline in air travel and demand for passenger jets.

Air travel within the U.S. tumbled 96 per cent by mid-April, to fewer than 100,000 people on some days. It has recovered slightly. The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 264,843 people at airports on Tuesday, a drop of 89 per cent compared with the same Tuesday a year ago.

“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, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices,” CEO David Calhoun said Wednesday in a memo to employees.

Calhoun said the company faces the challenges of keeping employees safe and working with suppliers and airlines “to assure the travelling public that it can fly safe from infection.”