Spirit AeroSystems announced Saturday
it will reduce employment at sites supporting commercial programs as
a result of lower demand for commercial airplanes. Spirit is a
supplier to Airbus and Boeing, both of which announced lower
production rates for commercial aircraft due to the impact of
COVID-19 on the aviation industry.
"In addition to reducing
employment, we are taking other initiatives to lower costs and
preserve liquidity, which included raising $1.2 billion in
high yield secured second lien bonds in April. We are focused on
ensuring Spirit AeroSystems remains a healthy business and emerges
from this crisis with a bright future,” said Tom Gentile,
President and CEO, Spirit AeroSystems.
As part of the overall employment
reductions, Spirit offered a voluntary layoff to union represented
employees in Wichita, Kan. earlier this week. Today Spirit
issued a notice to the State of Kansas under the Worker
Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of layoffs
affecting approximately 1,450 hourly and salaried employees at its
site in Wichita. Spirit's Wichita employees affected
by these layoffs are expected to begin exiting the company May
15. Later this month, smaller reductions will occur at Spirit's
remaining U.S. sites that perform commercial work. Spirit's global
sites are reviewing workforce requirements and will announce their
plans in the coming weeks.
As Spirit continues to respond to the
COVID-19 pandemic by changing its work practices to keep employees
safe, the company is also working directly to contribute to the fight
against COVID-19. Spirit has developed a partnership to manufacture
medical devices in Wichita. Approximately 700 employees will be
transferred to this temporary special project that is expected to
last through October and may go longer, depending upon demand. Spirit
will have more information to share on the medical device partnership
in the near future.
Spirit's work on defense programs will
not be impacted by these announced employment reductions and those
operations will continue uninterrupted. Additionally, some employees
currently supporting commercial programs may be transferred to
available defense work, mitigating the number of employees who may be
affected by these workforce actions.
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