Boeing issues 1,100 layoff warnings

Boeing issued its second batch of 2009 layoff notices Friday, and for the first time the cuts hit the assembly mechanics and electrical-system installers who actually build the airplanes.

Last month, Boeing had said most of those laid off would be workers who are not directly involved in production.

Of the 1,100 notices given by Boeing, about 700 employees in the Puget Sound region received 60-day layoff notices, including 452 Machinists union members and 40 members of the engineering union. In addition, Boeing said it is not filling nearly 1,000 open positions and will let go several hundred contract employees, most of those in support roles.

Boeing sent layoff notices last month to 190 local Machinists, mostly workers who maintain the factory buildings.

Boeing said in January that it intends to keep building jets at current rates.

In light of that, the shift to cutting assembly workers "just doesn't make sense," said International Association of Machinists (IAM) District President Tom Wroblewski.

"The company tells us they want to build 480 airplanes this year," he said. "They aren't going to do it by cutting these jobs."

"We've got a 787 and 747-8 to build. We've told the company we'll do whatever it takes to roll those out. To get hit with this is just unbelievable."

Bill Dugovich, spokesman for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), said the white-collar union has identified 153 contractors in the job categories of those SPEEA members in the Puget Sound region who got layoff notices.

"We monitor every one of these layoffs to ensure contractors go first," Dugovich said.

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company, in principle, agrees "that you should get rid of contractors before you get rid of employees with the same skills."

And he said the layoffs aren't a form of retribution against the IAM for the two-month strike last fall.

"We need to put the strike behind us," Healy said. "It wouldn't make sense to eliminate people you need to get the job done."

But he said the company has evaluated the skills it needs in the assembly plants and believes it can still meet its commitments despite the cuts.

Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney said in January his goal is to cut 10,000 positions companywide this year through a combination of layoffs and attrition.

Of that total, 4,500 will come from the Commercial Airplanes unit, most of which is based here. The Puget Sound region can certainly expect to take more than half of the companywide Boeing cuts.

The next wave of layoff notices will be issued March 20.

The possibility that much worse could come by year-end was raised by the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Giovanni Bisignani, in remarks to reporters Thursday in New York City.

Trade magazine Flight International reported Bisignani "predicting Airbus and Boeing will fail to deliver more than half of the aircraft they will produce in 2009."

He termed that alarming forecast "a guess," but cited the dire state of the airline industry, the lack of available financing, and also "conversations with several airline CEOs who have confessed that they do not think they will be able to take delivery of all the aircraft they are scheduled to take in 2009."

Both manufacturers have committed to delivering about 480 airplanes this year.

No other industry watcher has suggested that airline customers would be so strapped for funds that half the manufacturers' output could be left parked and unclaimed. The IAM's Wroblewski said such an outcome would be "devastating."

Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said the manufacturer is working closely with its customers to deliver firm orders and that, at this time, financing sources are sufficient to cover the needs of customers for the year.

Dominic Gates: 206-464-2963 or dgates@seattletimes.com