Multinational Leonardo said its factory in southern Italy will close for as long as four months, due to knock-on delays from Boeing’s manufacturing crisis.
The site in Grottaglie, in the southern region of Puglia, has suffered from “lower growth in the production and delivery of the Boeing 787.” The plant was purpose-built for the assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage sections.
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But the company said the closure was needed to “align production volumes with the short-term reduction in demand,” Leonardo explained.
The company management met with the Unindustria union in Rome to discuss the changes, which came alongside news that Leonardo had decided the same factory would be used to assemble the AW609 tiltrotor.
Leonardo explained in a press statement that its expansion and diversification of the plant showed the long-term plans for the site, away from its Boeing contracts.
“The development of further strategic initiatives aims to redefine new scenarios for the Grottaglie site as part of Leonardo’s broader strategy of ensuring a sustainable future for its Aerostructures Division, in which approximately 300 million euros have already been invested between 2019 and 2023,” it said.
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By GlobalDataThe Italian firm said earlier in 2024 that Boeing’s issues and knock-on to its production lines could cost €50m ($54 million) against its full-year earnings.
