Bombardier jets sit in front of the company's finishing plant in Montreal on Thursday. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)Bombardier Inc. will cut 3,000 jobs in its aerospace division because of decreased demand for its business aircraft, the company announced Thursday.
In a news release issued Thursday morning outlining its fourth-quarter results, the Montreal-based company said it expected to deliver about 25 per cent fewer business aircraft this fiscal year and will be cutting its workforce by about 10 per cent.
In Montreal, 831 unionized workers are being laid off, along with 189 non-union and management workers, and 10 contract staff. In Toronto, 420 union workers and 55 non-union staff will be laid off.
Ken Lewenza, the president of the Canadian Auto Workers, which represents unionized workers at Bombardier's Downsview plant in Toronto, called the layoff "devastating."
In Montreal, Virgil Mihailescu and his wife both work as aerospace engineers for the company. Mihailescu said he wasn't surprised by the announcement.
"Our business is like the Chanel of aviation," he said. "We're doing very high-tech, but very expensive toys for very rich. When those people are no longer rich — we're no longer in business."
The layoffs are in addition to the 1,360 announced Feb. 5 when Bombardier adjusted the production rates of its Learjet and Challenger aircraft.
The announced layoffs are now expected to be about 4,360.
The cuts will be made at the company's facilities in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Northern Ireland by the end of 2009.
Bombardier, the world's third-largest maker of commercial aircraft, said it expects the demand for business aircraft to remain weak for the foreseeable future.
The announcement came as Bombardier reported that its full-year profit reached $1 billion US for the first time, topping the $317 million the company made in its last fiscal year. Bombardier's revenues for the year rose 13 per cent year-over-year to $19.7 billion.
"During the past year, we more than held our own as the world's financial markets tumbled and the global economy weakened," said company president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin.
For the fourth quarter, Bombardier made a profit of $309 million, or 17 cents a share, on revenue of $5.4 billion. In the same quarter of its previous fiscal year, the company reported earnings of $218 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $5.3 billion.
With files from the Associated Press
