Extract of MSN UK today.
" BAE SYSTEMS CUTS 1,700 JOBS AS JET SALES SLUMP
BAE Systems is to cut nearly 1,700 jobs in its regional jets business because of a downturn in orders following the US terror attacks. The group says the cuts will hit factories in Manchester and at Prestwick in Scotland. Union leaders have described the job losses as 'devastating'. A total of 993 jobs will be cut at Woodfordin Manchester; 299 at Chadderton, also in Manchester; 219 at Prestwick in Ayrshire; 140 at Samlesbury, near Preston; and 18 at Filton, near Bristol. Chief executive John Weston says the company has completed a detailed assessment of the likely impact on its business of the "severe downturn" in the commercial aerospace market. Mr Weston says: "Since September, the trading outlook in these markets has changed substantially." He says profit expectations for the Airbus, which BAE helps build, have been reduced significantly next year, and the outlook for regional aircraft has "deteriorated sharply". BAE Systems had been tipped to issue a profits warning today, including substantial write-downs on the back of falling sales in its civil aerospace division. Falling orders for the RJ-100 Avro series of aircraft, formerly the BAE 146 are at the centre of the speculation. One of these aircraft, operated by Crossair, crashed in Switzerland over the weekend - killing 24 people. BAE Systems derives about 20% of its business from civil aerospace, with the remainder coming from defence "