American plane maker Boeing announced Wednesday (28 October) that it will cut an additional 7,000 jobs as its losses continue to mount as the COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on the aviation world around the globe.
Boeing had previously said it would cut 19,000 jobs earlier this year through a combination of voluntary and involuntary layoffs. It said Wednesday it expects to get down to about 130,000 jobs by the end of the year, which would mean an additional 7,000 job cuts, in addition to the natural attrition at the company throughout the year. In August the company had warned employees there would be additional job cuts coming, as it offered a new round of buyouts. Boeing did not immediately identify where the job cuts would occur.
“The global pandemic continued to add pressure to our business this quarter, and we’re aligning to this new reality,” CEO Dave Calhoun said on a call with analysts. Calhoun forecast that global air traffic will not return to 2019 levels for at least three more years, in line with forecast from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and it will take several years for it to catch up with the growth levels that had been forecast before the pandemic. The pandemic’s impact on aircraft sales will last for many years to come, he said, adding that Boeing’s 10-year commercial airplane market outlook is approximately 11 percent lower than what was assumed a year ago.
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