Airbus slashes 10,000 jobs to cut costs

European plane maker Airbus announced Wednesday that it will cut 10,000 jobs over the next four years, in an attempt to save 5 billion euros (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) by 2010.

The aircraft maker said in a crisi s statement that it will sellor close Varel and Laupheim production sites in Germany and Saint-Nazaire-Ville site in France.

Across Europe, 4,300 job cuts will go in France, 3,700 in Germany, 1,600 in Britain and 400 in Spain. Half of the redundancies will be made among the 56,000-strong Airbus work force and remainder from subcontractors, CEO Louis Gallois said.

The Toulouse-based company also plans to open its Meaulte plantin France, Nordenham in Germany and Filton in Britain to new investors.

This restructuring plan aims at helping the company overcome costly delays to its A380 super jumbo and the effects of a weaker U.S. dollar, Airbus said.

2007-03-01