Airbus confirms 1,435 jobs will be cut from its plant at Broughton
Airbus has confirmed that 1,435 jobs will be cut from its plant in Broughton, north Wales.
A further 295 jobs will be cut from its site in Filton, Bristol.
The company revealed plans to cut 1,700 jobs from its UK sites earlier this week as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Airbus' Broughton site - which makes wings - employs around 6,000 workers with more than double that in the supply chain.
In a statement the aerospace giant said: "These figures include integrated corporate functions which support all divisions in the UK.
"This split reflects the significant impact the Covid crisis has had on the UK's commercial aircraft manufacturing activities which are concentrated in Broughton.
"Airbus will continue to meet regularly with its trade union partners in the UK in order to identify solutions that will help us implement this adaptation while minimising the social impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the company."
Peter Hughes, Unite Wales Regional Secretary said the scale of job losses are "far larger" than they originally anticipated.
He said: "Our calls for Boris Johnson's Government to intervene in the crisis that is engulfing the aerospace sector have so far fallen on deaf ears. They can't hide anymore, the voices of thousands of workers and their families from across North Wales and north-west England are screaming for help.
"The governments of France and Germany are already acting to support their aerospace workers. If the UK Government does not do the same then our country's position as a world leader in the aerospace sector will be consigned to history."
Daz Reynolds, who is Unite's convenor at the site in Broughton said: "Our members at Broughton are devastated to hear of the scale of the job losses for our site. We are a world class workforce who have built up Broughton to be one of the best manufacturing sites in Europe. The workforce recognises the enormous challenges facing Airbus and are prepared to look at every avenue available to mitigate the proposed job losses.He added: "Unite will do everything it can to support our members following this desperate news. Our position remains that we will not accept one single compulsory redundancy at this site.
Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart MP said the job losses is "heart-breaking for the workers and their families and extremely worrying for the wider community."
He added that the UK government continues to work closely with Airbus, the trade unions and the Welsh Government.
"The UK Government has taken wide-ranging action to support as many jobs and businesses as possible since the start of the pandemic, but the coronavirus has had a huge and continuing impact across the economy,” he said.
North Wales MS Llyr Gruffydd has described the news as "gut-wrenching" and has called on the Welsh and UK governments to "step up to the plate and do everything possible."
He said: "My thoughts are with the workers, their families and the community at Broughton. I stand with them and will do everything I can to support them in the wake of this devastating blow."
International Relations Minister Eluned Morgan MS described the job losses as "devastating."
She said the announcement included a larger number of jobs than the Welsh Government had feared.
Watch the report by Rob Osborne about how local communities close to Broughton have reacted to the news:
As a result of Covid-19 around 70% of passenger fleets were grounded in April. Airbus has estimated this could have cost the sector globally more than $300bn.
The company is cutting 15,000 jobs across its global operations - 5,000 jobs in France, 5,100 in Germany, 900 in Spain and 1,300 positions at its other worldwide sites.
Airbus said commercial aircraft business activity has dropped by almost 40% in recent months as the industry faces an "unprecedented" crisis.