BREAKING NEWS: Airbus Slashes 1,700 Jobs in the UK

European planemaker Airbus has announced it is to cut 1,700 jobs in the UK as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The aerospace giant had announced plans on Monday to reduce its global workforce and commercial aircraft activity, it now says around 15,000 jobs will be cut worldwide by summer 2021- and that figure could change.

The job cuts include 1,700 in the UK, 5,000 in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain and 1,300 in other Airbus sites around the world. The information and consultation process with social partners has begun with a view to reaching agreements from autumn 2020, the company said.

The company warned in April that it was “bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed”. Some 134,000 people work for Airbus worldwide, with around a tenth of them in the UK. The firm said the UK cuts would fall at its sites in Broughton in Wales and Filton in Bristol.

It expects to make the cuts by summer 2021, but hopes the majority of redundancies will be voluntary or through early retirement of staff.