General Electric announced Monday it will cut an additional 10,000 jobs from its aviation sector as the coronavirus pandemic impacts the industry, forcing several companies to cancel orders.
The cuts will be both voluntary departures and layoffs and are taking effect after an initial wave of 2,600 job cuts in March, GE said in a statement.
The company wants to reduce its aviation employment base by 25 percent, or some 13,000 employees.
The austerity programme, which will affect all geographic zones, is reflective of the rough time the entire aviation sector is going through.
Boeing announced last week that it was cutting 16,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its workforce, in civilian aircraft manufacturing.
It also heavily reduced production of its long-haul 787 and 777/777X planes. The company has yet to announce a date when it will resume assembly of its flagship 737 MAX aircraft. Airbus has similarly reduced production.
GE is directly affected by these decisions, as it makes plane engines for Boeing and Airbus.
Global air traffic is expected to fall 80 percent during the second quarter compared to February, GE said in a letter to 52,000 employees.
“To protect our business, we have responded with difficult cost-cutting actions over the last two months,” CEO David Joyce said in the letter.
“Unfortunately, more is required as we scale the business to the realities of our commercial market.”
The job cuts are part of a $3 billion savings plan that will be implemented this year.
In addition, half of the employees in charge of aviation maintenance and repairs are out of work for three months.
Hiring has also been frozen and bonuses canceled.
GE, which makes aircraft engines in a joint venture with the French company Safran, CFM, saw revenue fall by eight percent to $20.52 billion in the first quarter.
The aviation division’s revenue plunged 13 percent to $6.9 billion, while its orders were down 14 percent.
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