Bombardier Jobs Cut

Plane-maker Bombardier is cutting hundreds of jobs at its east Belfast factory, as its aerospace division responds to a decline in global sales.

A Bombardier spokeswoman said the 300 job losses in Belfast would come from its 900 subcontracted workers but added that the 5,300 permanent staff at the Belfast facility will not be affected.

She said yesterday that the jobs would go "within the next few months".

Overall, 1,340 jobs will be cut worldwide in Bombardier with losses at sister factories in Montreal and Kansas.

The Canadian firm said the reduction represented 4.5% of the employees at its plane-making business.

Bombardier said it expects aircraft sales to fall 10% this year as airlines cancel orders in response to falling passenger numbers as the global economic slowdown continues.

The firm specialises in small and medium-sized aircraft for regional markets, and is perhaps best known for its Learjet executive plane.

Its bad news for east Belfast, but contrasts with more positive news last month that Thales Air Defence, formerly Shorts Missile Systems, had won a £200m Ministry of Defence contract to supply part of the Starstreak missile system to the MoD until 2020.

Shorts Missile Systems was originally a joint venture between Shorts' then owners Bombardier and Thomson-CSF, which later became the Thales Group after a series of mergers and buy-outs.

Local MLA Robin Newton expressed disappointment at the news of job loses at Bombardier.

"This is a huge disappointment but I have no doubts the cutbacks are not a reflection on the local labour force but more to do with the global economic downturn.

"I am calling on The Minister for Employment and Learning to work with Bombardier in an attempt to advise those facing the redundancy about other job opportunities or training that will help then secure future employment," he commented.

See: Multi-Million Pound Deal Welcomed At Thales

(BMcC/JM)