Like Boeing, Bombardier to layoff 3,000 jobs

Canadian plane maker Bombardier, which is the third largest aircraft company in the world, on Thursday joined giant Boeing in axing 3,000 jobs worldwide citing sagging demand for its business jets.

Boeing has already announced to lay off 10,000 staff as the global downturn takes toll on the aviation sector.

Surprisingly, job cuts at the Montreal-based Bombardier came the day the company reported higher profits and revenue for the fiscal year 2009. But "there is no doubt that we are going through challenging times and our business environment is changing fast," said Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin in a statement.

"However, we believe we are well positioned to face this difficult economic environment with a strong balance sheet, high level of liquidity as well as a large and diversified backlog, both by product and geographies," he added.

Thursday's job cuts, which account for 10 per cent of the company's total workforce, are in addition to 1,360 jobs it eliminated in February after fall in demand for its Learjet and Challenger aircraft, the Bombardier statement said.

Apart from eliminating hundreds of positions in Canada, the latest job cuts will also affect the company's facilities in the US, Mexico and Northern Ireland, the statement said.

With companies avoiding buying of corporate jets amid the global downturn, Bombardier said it expected to sell 25 per cent less business aircraft in the current fiscal year.

In its annual fiscal report Thursday, Bombardier posted a net income of $1 billion for the fiscal year 2009 ending January 31 - up from $317 million during the previous year.

The company earned a total revenue of $19.7 billion in 2009, compared to $17.5 billion in fiscal year 2008.

However, despite its strong financial showing, the company said its sales were slipping, forcing it to scale back its operations and axe jobs.

Agencies