Airbus to slash 15,000 jobs amid pandemic

June 30 (UPI) -- Airbus announced plans Tuesday to lay off approximately 15,000 workers over the next year as the coronavirus pandemic further tamps down on travel worldwide.

The Dutch company said the layoffs would take place by summer 2021.

"Airbus is facing the gravest crisis this industry has ever experienced," Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said in a statement. "The measures we have taken so far have enabled us to absorb the initial shock of this global pandemic. Now, we must ensure that we can sustain our enterprise and emerge from the crisis as a healthy, global aerospace leader, adjusting to the overwhelming challenges of our customers.

"To confront that reality, we must now adopt more far-reaching measures."

Of the positions cut, 5,100 will be in Germany, 5,000 in France, 1,700 in Britain, 900 in Spain and 1,300 at other sites.

Airbus said it made the cuts because commercial aircraft business has dropped 40 percent in recent months and air travel isn't expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels until as late as 2025.

Airbus' announcement came the same day Air France said it planned to cut more than 7,500 jobs over the next two years, according to France24.