Boeing To Cut 900 Jobs At Long Beach C-17 Plant

Long Beach - The Boeing Co. announced today it will cut approximately 900 jobs at its Long Beach plant because of a slowdown in production of C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes.

Boeing announced in February that it would reduce the number of C-17s built each year to 10 from 15 because of declining orders.

The job cuts will result in the elimination of the second shift at the C-17 final assembly plant in Long Beach, said Bob Ciesla, the C-17 program manager.

"This has been a very difficult decision, no question about it," Ciesla said. "But reducing the number of C-17s we deliver every year -- and doing that with a smaller work force -- will allow us to keep the production line open beyond 2012, protect jobs and give potential customers more time to finalize their airlift requirements."

The factory is expected to be closed by the end of 2012, barring congressional intervention or a spate of foreign orders, which analysts consider unlikely, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"There's just not that much of a market for this aircraft," Scott Hamilton, an Issaquah, Wash.-based aviation industry consultant, told The Times.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster called Boeing's announcement "difficult and disconcerting," but "not entirely unexpected as the federal government has decreased orders for this workhorse aircraft."

"Our rich history of aerospace manufacturing makes this an emotional day for Long Beach as the C-17 plant is the last of what was previously a robust aerospace manufacturing industry in California," Foster said.

"The impacts from these reductions will affect the state and the region and is not constrained only to Long Beach."

Long Beach "will continue our efforts to support Boeing in generating additional orders to preserve the thousand of jobs that remain and our Workforce Investment Board will commit resources to assist affected employees during this difficult period," Foster said.

Boeing will provide assistance for employees who will be losing their jobs to find positions elsewhere in the company, Ciesla said.

"We've been communicating frequently with our employees about this process for the past year and will continue to do so," Ciesla said.