By Skies Magazine | June 5, 2020 Estimated reading time 1 minute, 59 seconds.
Bombardier Aviation announced recently that it will lay off roughly 2,500 employees due to the economic hardships endured as a result of the global pandemic.
In a statement released on June 5, the Quebec-based manufacturer said that forecasts show a 30 per cent decline in year-over-year sales for business jet deliveries, forcing the company to adjust to the current economic climate.
“Bombardier must adjust its operations and workforce to ensure that it emerges from the current crisis on solid footing,” the statement read.
The company said the majority of its staff reductions will impact manufacturing operations in Canada and will carried out through the rest of 2020.
The news of the staffing lay offs comes on the heels of Bombardier’s sale of its CRJ Series aircraft program to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for a reported sum of US$550 million earlier in the week. The sale of the CRJ program marked the end of Bombardier Commercial Aviation, as the company sold its C Series program in 2018 and its Q400 turboprop family in 2019.
In March, as the early effects of the COVID-19 crisis were being felt, Bombardier temporarily paused its operations to help quell the spread of the virus throughout its facilities. It restarted production at the end of April, but its first quarter financial report showed a loss of US$200 million over that period alone.
In the June 5 statement, Bombardier said it believes it will save roughly $40 million for 2020 by making the staffing cuts.
