South Wales Echo

General Electric cuts jobs at aircraft plant

- THOMAS DEACON Reporter thomas.deacon@walesonlin­e.co.uk

GENERAL Electric is to cut hundreds of jobs at its aircraft plant in Nantgarw.

It is understood that 369 jobs will be cut from the firm’s aircraft maintenanc­e plant.

In May it was revealed GE was consulting with the 1,400 people at the factory. It said 13,000 of its 52,000 worldwide workforce could be affected as the air travel industry feels the effects of the global lockdown.

The announceme­nt is the latest blow to the Welsh economy this week. On the same day, the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport announced redundanci­es which could see its workforce reduced by almost half (see story, right), and on Tuesday car-maker Ineos put its Bridgend plant on hold, jeopardisi­ng hundreds of jobs.

In a joint statement, Alex DaviesJone­s MP and Mick Antoniw MS, both Labour representa­tives for Pontypridd, said the GE announceme­nt is “absolutely devastatin­g”.

They said: “The announceme­nt that 369 jobs will be cut at General Electric in Nantgarw is absolutely devastatin­g for the employees and the whole community.

“It is particular­ly distressin­g that the majority of GE’s UK job cuts will fall on the Nantgarw site. These are highly-skilled, highly-paid jobs and will be extremely difficult to replace.

“This news follows job cuts at British Airways in Llantrisan­t and other Welsh sites, and the announceme­nt of redundanci­es at Airbus in

Broughton in north Wales.”

GE Aviation makes jet engines for Boeing and Airbus and the site at Nantgarw has the capacity to maintain up to 500 engines a year.

But global air traffic is expected to be down approximat­ely 80% in the second quarter when compared to the start of the pandemic’s effect in China in early February.

The joint statement added: “It is clear to us that the UK Government must urgently act on Labour’s call for extra support for targeted sectors. The UK aerospace industry is in crisis and it is not acceptable for the UK Government to simply sit back and shrug its shoulders.

“We call on the UK Government to intervene urgently and ensure this key strategic sector and its highlyskil­led workforce is saved for the future.

“We will continue to work with Unite the Union and GE management locally to do everything we can to ensure that as many jobs as possible are retained for the future and to support those who have lost their jobs in any way we can.”

A GE Aviation spokesman said: “The proposals to reduce our workforce are due to the unpreceden­ted impact of Covid-19 on the commercial aviation industry.

“We appreciate the commitment of all our employees during this difficult time, and we regret having to make these proposals.

“We remain focused on protecting the safety of our employees, continuing to serve our customers, and preserving our capability to respond as the industry recovers.”

 ??  ?? The General Electric plant in Nantgarw
The General Electric plant in Nantgarw

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