Gunship
31st Jan 2005, 16:01
:sad: Has the Merlin and Apache fleets been fully completed ? No chance of more orders ?
The helicopter maker AgustaWestland is to axe 640 jobs because of a shortage of orders, the company announced today.
The jobs will go from May at the company's Yeovil plant in Somerset, which employs around 4,000 workers. AugustaWestland said the jobs were going following the successful completion of the Merlin and Apache helicopter orders at the end of last year.
AugustaWestland said it was "proceeding with a programme to bring employment levels ... into line with the current and potential order book".
Workers were told that 550 full time jobs in Westland Helicopters and a further 90 full time jobs in the transmissions business will be cut, leaving the workforce at 3,300.
AugustaWestland, Europe's leading helicopter maker, said it would aim to achieve the reductions as much as possible through voluntary redundancy, but it could not rule out compulsory job losses. A formal 90-day consultation process with trade unions has started.
AugustaWestland's parent company, Finmeccanica of Italy, last year warned it would have to start laying off workers at Westland unless the British government finalised a new order for Lynx helicopters by the end of 2004, although Westland today said it had already factored in a delay.
The Yeovil factory is currently building helicopters including the Superlink 300 for export to Thailand and South Africa and the EH 101 for countries including Denmark.
Alan Johnston, managing director of Westland, said: "We regret that these job reductions have now become necessary. However, it is essential to ensure that Westland is in the best shape to win future orders, and that requires us to take all necessary steps to improve our competitiveness."
Tony Woodley, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, said it appeared the delay in placing a UK government contract for the Lynx had contributed to today's bad news.
"Even now the government may be able to save these jobs," he said. "Why don't they do what any European government would do and confirm that order for Yeovil and support British manufacturing jobs."
Livvie Reid, the union's regional officer, said: "This level of reduction is almost like industrial carnage on a grand scale. There will scarcely be a family in Yeovil unaffected by this. We will not accept any forced redundancies."
The cuts would have been worse if a consortium that includes Finmeccanica had not just won an order to build the next generation of helicopters for the US president.
The US announced late on Friday that a consortium of Finmeccanica, Bell and Lockheed Martin had won the contract to build the next generation of helicopters used to ferry the US president to and from the White House in Washington.
The helicopter maker AgustaWestland is to axe 640 jobs because of a shortage of orders, the company announced today.
The jobs will go from May at the company's Yeovil plant in Somerset, which employs around 4,000 workers. AugustaWestland said the jobs were going following the successful completion of the Merlin and Apache helicopter orders at the end of last year.
AugustaWestland said it was "proceeding with a programme to bring employment levels ... into line with the current and potential order book".
Workers were told that 550 full time jobs in Westland Helicopters and a further 90 full time jobs in the transmissions business will be cut, leaving the workforce at 3,300.
AugustaWestland, Europe's leading helicopter maker, said it would aim to achieve the reductions as much as possible through voluntary redundancy, but it could not rule out compulsory job losses. A formal 90-day consultation process with trade unions has started.
AugustaWestland's parent company, Finmeccanica of Italy, last year warned it would have to start laying off workers at Westland unless the British government finalised a new order for Lynx helicopters by the end of 2004, although Westland today said it had already factored in a delay.
The Yeovil factory is currently building helicopters including the Superlink 300 for export to Thailand and South Africa and the EH 101 for countries including Denmark.
Alan Johnston, managing director of Westland, said: "We regret that these job reductions have now become necessary. However, it is essential to ensure that Westland is in the best shape to win future orders, and that requires us to take all necessary steps to improve our competitiveness."
Tony Woodley, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, said it appeared the delay in placing a UK government contract for the Lynx had contributed to today's bad news.
"Even now the government may be able to save these jobs," he said. "Why don't they do what any European government would do and confirm that order for Yeovil and support British manufacturing jobs."
Livvie Reid, the union's regional officer, said: "This level of reduction is almost like industrial carnage on a grand scale. There will scarcely be a family in Yeovil unaffected by this. We will not accept any forced redundancies."
The cuts would have been worse if a consortium that includes Finmeccanica had not just won an order to build the next generation of helicopters for the US president.
The US announced late on Friday that a consortium of Finmeccanica, Bell and Lockheed Martin had won the contract to build the next generation of helicopters used to ferry the US president to and from the White House in Washington.