Planemaker has furloughed 3,000 of the 6,000 staff at its wing-making plant in Deeside after its CEO admitted it was ‘bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed’. Tony McDonough reports
A minister in the Welsh Government is calling on the UK Government to intervene to secure the long-term future of planemaker Airbus.
Last week, Airbus announced that 3,000 workers out of the 6,000 employed at its giant wing-making plant at Broughton in Deeside were to be furloughed as the company battles with the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic.
Lockdowns across the world are having a devastating effect on the aviation sector and Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury wrote to the company’s 135,000 staff across Europe telling them the company was “bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed”.
Many of the 6,000 workers at Broughton live in the Liverpool city region and a downturn in the fortunes of Airbus would also have serious implications for the aerospace supply chain across the North West.
Now Ken Skates, Minister for Economy and Transport, in the Welsh Government said the UK Government needed to play a “full and active role” in securing the future of the factory and its workers.
“I have raised on a weekly basis with UK Government ministers the need for direct intervention to support the aerospace industry, and specifically Airbus,” he said. “My counterparts are very aware of the challenges that the aerospace industry faces right now. I just await now their specific response.
“Airbus is the biggest private sector employer in the region and it is vitally important, not just for the 6,000 people that work there, but the supply chain and any businesses networks that rely on wing manufacturing from the site.”
In its first quarter results last week, Airbus said that that besides reducing expected 2020 capital expenditure by around €700m to around €1.9bn, its measures would also include the deferral and suspension of activities which are not critical to business continuity and to meeting customer and compliance commitments.
Mr Skates added: “It is fair to say that the entire global aerospace industry is facing unprecedented challenges right now and we are working incredibly closely with the company and the highly skilled individuals that work at Broughton as well as the various businesses that rely on Airbus.
“In terms of the 3,000 of those placed on furlough, we are determined to work with Airbus to ensure that they are able to return to those well-paid and highly skilled roles that they have been able to occupy before coronavirus.”