Jobs risk as Airbus scraps superjumbo
HUNDREDS of jobs in Wales could be at risk after Airbus announced it will end production of its flagship A380 superjumbo.
The company employs thousands of people at its site in Broughton, Flintshire, but yesterday the aerospace firm said it had made the “painful decision” to stop producing the giant aeroplane.
It blamed Emirates’ decision to slash its A380 order book by around a quarter, and a lack of order backlog with other airlines.
Airbus said it would end deliveries of the record-breaking plane in 2021 – just 14 years after it first entered commercial service.
Emirates is yet to take delivery of 14 of the double-decker aircraft – the wings, engines and landing gear for which are made in the UK.
Airbus said it would “start discussions with its social partners in the next few weeks regarding the 3,000 to 3,500 positions potentially impacted over the next three years”.
Unite, which represents workers at Airbus in Broughton and at Filton, near Bristol, plus those in supply companies such as GKN, said it would be seeking “urgent assurances” on jobs and future work.
The union’s national officer for aerospace Rhys McCarthy said: “This is a sad day for Airbus’ dedicated UK workforce, who have made the iconic A380’s wings since it entered
service in 2007. It is a much-loved aircraft manufactured by a highly skilled workforce.
“Unite will be seeking urgent assurances from Airbus that there will be no job losses because of the decision to end production of the A380.
“We are of the firm belief that with a full order book in single-aisle planes, such as the A320, that our members affected can be redeployed on to other work in Airbus.
“Our members in the supply chain making many of the parts for the A380 are also our key concern. Over the coming days we will be engaging with companies such as GKN to ensure any impact is minimal as we offer our full support to some of the best aerospace workers in the world.”
Airbus said it would “start discussions with its social partners in the next few weeks regarding the 3,000 to 3,500 positions potentially impacted over the next three years”.
It makes wings for the A380 in the UK, employing 6,000 staff at Broughton and 3,000 at Filton.
Airbus said an increase in production of its A320 model would offer “a significant number of internal mobility opportunities”.
Airbus had already reduced production levels of the A380 superjumbo, with eight due to be delivered in 2019, down from 12 last year.
“As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021,” said Airbus chief executive officer Tom Enders.
“The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full-year results.
“The A380 is not only an outstanding engineering and industrial achievement. Passengers all over the world love to fly on this great aircraft. Hence today’s announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide.
“But, keep in mind that A380s will still roam the skies for many years to come and Airbus will of course continue to fully support the A380 operators.”
On the impact on jobs at Broughton and Filton, Mr Enders said: “It needs to be evaluated. It’s clear we make a lot of wings in Britain and a few wings for the A380. Hopefully we can redeploy a significant number of our employees there and re-use also the infrastructure.”
Nearly 240ft (73m) long and with space for more than 500 passengers, the A380 stole the title of world’s largest passenger jet from the Boeing 747 when it embarked on its maiden commercial flight from Singapore to Sydney on October 27, 2007.
The giant aircraft’s first commercial flight to Europe – a Singapore Airlines service – arrived at Heathrow on March 3, 2008.
According to Airbus, the plane has flown more than 500,000 revenue flights and carried over 190 million passengers to date, with more than 300 commercial flights a day.
However, concerns over the superjumbo’s future began to appear and in 2016 Airbus announced a drastic cut in production, reducing the build rate by half.
Yesterday the firm said Emirates had chosen to reduce its order of A380s from 162 to 123 aircraft following a “review of its operations, and in light of developments in aircraft and engine technologies”.
Meanwhile, the UAE carrier is buying more of the smaller A330-900 and A350-900 aircraft, purchasing 40 and 30 of them respectively.
The Emirates order for the A330900 and A350-900 is worth US$21.4bn (£16.6bn).
It comes less than a month after the company branded the UK government’s handling of Brexit “a disgrace”.
Yesterday Mr Enders said he was a “little more optimistic” about a deal being reached. He added that the firm intends to “plan for the worst as much as we can and hope for the best”.