Airbus to reassign 750 jobs in overhaul

PARIS — European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Friday it plans to shed 750 jobs in its defence and space business in an overhaul, but intends to reassign workers rather than make compulsory redundancies as business grows.

The cuts will involve some 2 per cent of a total of 34,330 positions at Airbus Defence and Space, which mainly operates in Germany, France and Spain.

Consultations with social partners are ongoing, Airbus said, regarding job reassignments.

The group, facing difficulties in executing a range of military and space programmes, has been reorganising for several months now as it targets a "better balance between risks and opportunities", Chief Executive Guillaume Faury explained on presenting the group's results on Wednesday.

Airbus Defence and Space is due to set up a "simplified structure for the future" early next year comprising "three fully autonomous and responsible business lines", according to a statement sent to AFP.

The first, Air Power, will bring together the Military Air Systems activity (including Eurofighter, MRTT tanker, C295) and that dedicated to the Future Combat Air System, the future combat aircraft project developed for Germany, France and Spain.

The second activity concerns Space Systems and the third, Connected Intelligence, deals notably with secure communications and computer networks.

Earlier this week, Airbus said net profit was up 21 per cent as it assembled and delivered more planes to clients.