SEATTLE -- Despite some big orders from airlines and an expected $16 billion deal with the Air Force, The Boeing Co. is slashing its work force even further as it tries to weather the worst downturn in commercial aviation history. þþThe Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer on Thursday said it plans to cut 4,000 to 5,000 more jobs than it previously planned from its Commercial Airplanes division, headquartered in suburban Renton, by the end of the year. þþThe cuts, which will come through attrition and layoffs, mean that by the end of 2003, Boeing will have slashed 40,000 positions in just over two years. þþThe reductions continue the deepest two-year cut in employment for the aerospace manufacturer since the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a billboard in Seattle famously asked ÿWill the last person leaving Seattle -- turn out the lights.ÿ Most of the jobs now being eliminated are in the Puget Sound region, where Boeing builds all but one of its commercial jets. þþÿThis is an unprecedented and very difficult time for all of us in the commercial aviation business,ÿ Alan Mulally, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, wrote in an e-mail to employees. þþBoeing's labor reductions first stemmed from the 2001 terrorist attacks, but have continued as airlines around the world have been struggling to stay afloat amid shaky economies, war and disease. Airlines have parked hundreds of jets, laid off thousands of workers, postponed deliveries of new planes and revamped their companies in a desperate quest to stay in business. þþBoeing has long said it would tie employment to its forecast production levels. But the company is not changing its forecast of delivering 280 airplanes in 2003, and 275-300 in 2004, Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said. þþHe said the airline slump, worsened by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak this year and the Iraq war, has cut into airlines' demand for new jets and for maintenance services from Boeing. þþBoeing has won some big orders this year, including one from AirTran Airways for 50 737s and another from Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways for 45 737s. It also is working for Congressional approval of a $16 billion deal with the U.S. Air Force to supply 100 converted 767 jets as refueling tankers. þþBut the company has also been dealt setbacks, including Continental Airlines' decision this week to defer deliveries of 36 737s. þþThe announcement was a blow to the unions that have already seen massive layoffs in the past few years and are frustrated that there's little hope for a quick recovery. þþÿThe economy is lagging, people aren't flying, carriers aren't buying, so we're losing jobs,ÿ said Mark Blondin, president of Machinists Union District 751, which represents Boeing production workers. ÿThere's a leader in the White House who's done nothing on the economy.ÿ þþBill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said Boeing is reducing its staff so much, it's jeopardizing the company's ability to develop its proposed new jet, the 7E7. þþÿWe don't think they know what they're doing,ÿ said Dugovich. þþSeparately Thursday, Boeing said former Sen. Warren B. Rudman, R-N.H., will lead an independent review of the company's policies and procedures regarding ethics and the handling of competitive information. þþThe Air Force and the Justice Department are reviewing whether Boeing employees misused information from Lockheed Martin in 1997 and 1998 during the competition for development of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. Two former Boeing employees have been charged in federal court with conspiracy, theft of trade secrets and violating federal procurement integrity laws. þþIn a statement, Boeing chairman and CEO Phil Condit said he hopes Rudman will be able to verify the incident ÿwas an exceptional violation of company policy.ÿ þ
Source: Chicago Tribune
