Fokker confirms 200 job cuts

The maintenance branch of aircraft manufacturers Fokker will cut 200 of the nearly 730 jobs in the Netherlands. Fokker Services hopes this will help to stagnate the pressure of decreasing turnovers for the maintenance of old Fokker aircrafts, and increase efficiency. This is from an announcement Fokker made yesterday. The measures are unavoidable, says Fokker Services director Peter Somers. "The turnover that comes from the maintenance of Fokker aircrafts decreases every year, and recently with such speed that we couldn't have caught it with tasks for other aircraft types." All of the cuts, which were announced earlier this year, will concern Dutch jobs in the locations Hoofddorp, Oude Meer and Woensdrecht. Forced dismissals are, according to the company, unavoidable. The company is now speaking with associations over a social plan. Fokker Services occupies itself with the maintenance of aircrafts that are no longer in production. Last month, a spokesperson told the Financeele Dagblad that there are far less aircrafts up for maintenance than was expected. Since the bankruptcy of Fokker in 1996, new planes are no longer being made.

Although the company maintains planes of other makes successfully, a gap still arose, the spokesperson explained. The associations think that the reorganization is a "bleeding", says head of FNV Metaal, Ans van Uffelen. Van Uffelen expects that the number of people forced out of the maintenance branch will only become clear at the end of March. Related Story: Fokker To Start Layoffs Next Month