Aerospace giant Boeing on Wednesday announced a new round of layoffs, cutting 6,770 employees as part of a long-term plan to reduce its worldwide staff by 16,000.

“We have come to the unfortunate moment of having to start involuntary layoffs,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a letter to employees on Wednesday. “I wish there was some other way.”

Boeing has so far laid off around 12,000 workers in total after 5,220 employees took voluntary buyout packages. The last time Boeing had layoffs was in 2017, when roughly 1,500 workers were let go.

More layoffs are planned over the course of “the next few months.”

Earlier this month, Raytheon Technologies said it planned to cut $2 billion in costs. Supply delays had prompted Lockheed Martin to give abbreviated schedules to about 2,500 employees to avoid layoffs.

“Our industry will come back, but it will take some years to return to what it was just two months ago,” Calhoun explained.

Most of these recent layoffs have been from Boeing’s commercial aircraft sectors. Other portions of the company’s business, including defense and space travel manufacturing, have avoided significant cuts as their operations are less likely to be disrupted by the pandemic. Boeing’s worldwide workforce before these layoffs totaled roughly 160,000.

The Transportation Security Administration reported just under 265,00 security screenings on Tuesday, a roughly 89% downturn from the same day in 2019.

Commercial airlines, meanwhile, are barred from making involuntary layoffs until October, per the conditions of the recent federal government bailout.

After raising $25 billion in debt from public markets earlier this spring, Boeing did not need to seek support from the US government
After raising $25 billion in debt from public markets earlier this spring, Boeing did not need to seek support from the US government AFP / Jim WATSON
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