Continues Trend Of Monthly Notices From The Plane Maker

Some 130 Boeing employees got bad news last Friday. They received notices that they will be laid off in 60 days. The company has been issuing layoff notices every month since January, when it announced it would be idling 10,000 employees company wide.

Last week's notices were for employees mostly in the commercial airplane division, and about 50 of them were from the Puget Sound region.

The Seattle Times reports that overall, Boeing employment is down by about 5,000 since the first of the year. But Boeing officials say that number is low due to acquisitions made on the defense side of the business this year. The military arm of Boeing added 1,700 employees this summer as deeper cuts were being made to the commercial aircraft division.

3,700 of the 4,500 positions eliminated this year are from the commercial airplane division. The Times reports that Boeing's purchase of Vaught Aircraft in South Carolina is not factored into the statistics, as those employees will not come under the Boeing umbrella until after the fiscal year ends in December.

Company Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney plans to update the progress of the downsizing when third-quarter earnings are released October 21st.

FMI: www.boeing.com