Airbus to Lay Off 6% of Staff in Defense and Space Division

Airbus has announced a major restructuring plan for its Defense and Space division, aiming to eliminate 2,043 jobs—around 6% of the unit's workforce. This move, revealed during meetings with labor unions, reflects the company’s ongoing efforts to address financial challenges within the division, which employs over 35,000 people.

First announced in October, the plan initially outlined potential cuts of up to 2,500 positions, or 7% of the division's workforce, citing €1.5 billion (US$1.5 billion) in write-downs related to its satellite operations, particularly the struggling OneSat program. However, the current plan reduces that target to 2,043 job cuts, mainly affecting the Space Systems business, which accounts for 1,128 of the eliminations.

Germany will be the most impacted, with 689 job cuts, followed by France (540), the UK (477), and Spain (303). Other countries will see 34 positions affected.

In addition to the Space Systems unit, 250 jobs will be cut in the Air Power subdivision, which focuses on combat aircraft, and 47 jobs in Connected Intelligence. Additionally, 618 roles will be eliminated at the division's headquarters.

Airbus plans to complete the workforce reductions by mid-2026. The company has stressed that the immediate adoption of a restructuring charge will be delayed until detailed negotiations with unions are concluded.

The governments of the host countries—Germany, France, the UK, and Spain—have been informed of the planned reductions as part of a project named "Proton," designed to streamline operations in response to persistent losses in key areas.