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Bombardier announces job cuts

May 14, 2015

The struggling Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier has said it will lay off 1,750 workers as it tries to cope with sluggish demand for some of its business jets. The cuts will hit workers in Canada and Northern Ireland.

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A welder at a Bombardier factory in Germany
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Bombardier announced Thursday it would be reducing its workforce as it reined in production of Global 5000 and Global 6000 aircraft to reflect "current economic conditions."

The company cited soft demand for the two business jets due to geopolitical turmoil and unfavorable market developments in areas such as Latin America, China and Russia.

The president of Bombardier's business aircraft division, Eric Martel, said demand had been lagging across the entire industry, leaving the aircraft maker with a 13-percent drop in profits in the first quarter of the year ending March 31.

It also posted a $1.2 billion (1.05 billion-euro) loss for the whole of 2014, which the company attributed to production delays, restructuring in its aerospace division and the suspension of its Learjet 85 business aircraft.

The delays, which affected its CSeries passenger jets, had already led to 1,700 job cuts in December 2013. Last July, 1,800 additional people were laid off due to the company's restructuring plans.

This time around, the layoffs will begin in June and continue until the first three months of 2016.

cjc/kms (AFP, AP)