PARIS: Canada’s Bombardier said yesterday it was cutting around 7,500 jobs by the end of 2018 as the aircraft and train manufacturer tries to cut costs and boost productivity as part of a turnaround plan.
“The actions announced today will ensure we have the right cost structure, workforce and organization to compete and win in the future,” chief executive Alain Bellemare said in a statement about the measures that aim to produce $300m in recurring savings.
The cuts, to hit mostly administrative posts, follow the announcement in February of 7,000 cuts to manufacturing jobs.
The government of Quebec came to the rescue of Bombardier last year, giving it $2.5bn for a 49.5-percent stake in its C Series plane program and 30 percent of its rail unit. Delays in the C Series, the first completely new aircraft in the 100- to 150-seat category in more than 25 years that could put Bombardier in a position to snatch business from Airbus and Boeing, drained the company of cash and pushed it into a deep restructuring effort.
Bombardier earlier this year delivered the first C Series plane and has received additional orders for the plane which provides considerable fuel savings compared to most passenger planes in operation.
