SEATTLE, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Another wave of layoff notices were set to go out in the Puget Sound area after Boeing said Wednesday that it would eliminate an additional 5,000 jobs in its commercial airliner division.
Alan Mulally, head of the company's airliner division, said about half of the jobs would be cut through attrition; however, layoff notices effective in late January would be sent out to unlucky workers as early as Friday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
"While none of us likes the idea of additional reductions, it looks like the worst is certainly behind us," Mulally said in a statement posted on a company Web site.
The details of which positions would be affected were not immediately revealed, although the layoffs had been expected following previous cuts since last Sept. 11 totaling some 30,000 jobs.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks threw a damper on anticipated expansion of air travel worldwide, and Boeing has yet to fully recover from the cancellation or postponement of aircraft orders from the aerospace giant. The latest cuts would reduce employment in the commercial air division from 65,000 to 60,000.
Boeing's stock price closed up 33 cents at $31.73 per share Wednesday, but has been on a long decline this year from a high of $51.07 in mid-March.
