Airbus to start talks with unions on permanent job cuts

Airbus is preparing for permanent job cuts after warning unions that it needs to rein in production amid a collapse in demand, people with knowledge of the situation said. Discussions have begun with labor groups in Germany, France and Spain, the people said, with the formal process expected to start next week. The number of positions to be eliminated hasn’t yet been decided, according to the people, who asked not to be named disclosing private information. Airbus executives will thrash out an initial plan on a call next week, the people said. It may take months to arrive at a final figure for redundancies, which will depend on the depth of the aerospace downturn and negotiations with labor unions. The process will also include office staff at the planemaker’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, they said. The measures follow a rapid reversal of an aerospace market that was riding a decade of growth before the coronavirus hit. Fighting the disease has cut drastically into air travel, forcing airlines to park planes and hurling healthy carriers into a state of financial distress. With demand in retreat, Airbus has slashed production goals by more than a third. <br/>