Airbus 'to unveil £3.4bn cost cuts'
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is set to reveal cost-cutting plans to save £3.4bn (€5bn) within three years, it was reported today.
Cost overruns and delays to the company's flagship A380 superjumbo project last year have prompted the 'Power 8' savings drive, which Airbus and parent company EADS will reveal in Toulouse on Tuesday, according to The Sunday Times.
German and French unions feared that 8,000 jobs could go under the plans but Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois is said to be concentrating job cuts among contract staff.
Airbus also employs 13,000 workers in the UK, mainly at Broughton in North Wales, and Filton, Bristol, building wings and landing gear for the commercial aircraft.
A company spokesman was unavailable to comment but aerospace industry experts told The Sunday Times that immediate UK job cuts were unlikely.
As well as unveiling a tighter corporate structure for Airbus and EADS, it is said that Mr Gallois will reduce the number of suppliers used by the company, squeeze Airbus's procurement budget, and sell stakes in some of the company's in-house component manufacturing operations.
But he may also announce plans to lift production levels by raising the output of the A320 family of plans to 40 a month.
