Almost a fifth of the total workforce at the Bombardier aircraft works in Belfast are to lose their jobs this year and in 2017, the company confirmed today.

Bombardier Aerospace says 580 jobs will be cut from the 5,500 payroll this year, with a further 500 to follow in 2017. The cuts are part of a plan to reduce its global workforce by 7,000 over the next two years, while at the same time hiring to support production of its C Series commercial jets.

While some of the company’s divisions have reasonably full order books, financial results for 2015 suggest thin margins and show an overhang in development costs for its C Series planes. The company issued reduced estimates for revenues this year, predicting they would range from $16.5 billion to $17.5 billion, as compared with last year’s out-turn of $18.2 billion.

Rocky Road

With a 2015 operating profit before special items of $554m, the company faces a rocky year despite receiving some large orders.

In Association with

The special items referred to in its accounts amount to $5.6 billion, which Bombardier said “mainly related to the completion of in-depth reviews and de-risking of aircraft programmes”.

Air Canada has agreed to buy up to 75 of the new CS300 aircraft, which occupy the 100 to 150 seat segment of the aircraft market. At list price, this would value the order at $3.8 billion. Bombardier has now received orders and commitments for a total of 678 of the C Series, and will be expanding its workforce in Canada to meet these.

Effectively, the company is shedding workers in some divisions while ramping up hiring to meet demand for new commercial aircraft. Its business aircraft division has performed especially badly over the past several years.

Unfortunately for the Belfast workforce, assembly of the C Series is not part of the company’s activity in Northern Ireland.