Bombardier has decided to divest its aerostructures operations in Belfast and Morocco as a part of its plan to consolidate all aerospace assets into a single streamlined and fully integrated business.
The company divulged its plan while announcing its first-quarter result. However, it gave no further reasons for this planned divestment.
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The Bombardier Aviation business unit will be led by David Coleal.
Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare said: “We are very excited to announce the strategic formation of Bombardier Aviation.
“It is the right next step in our transformation. The consolidation will simplify and better focus our organisation on our leading brands, Global; Challenger; Learjet; and the CRJ. It will also allow us to better support our customers and generate value for shareholders.”
He added that the company will focus on its aerostructures activities in Montréal and Mexico, as well as its newly acquired Global 7500 business jet wing operations in Texas.
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By GlobalDataThe Belfast operations employ 3,600 people. It is also estimated to support an additional 1,000 jobs across Northern Ireland throughout the supply chain.
The local company management told that it understands the concern among the workers and expressed its commitment to finding the right buyer.
Bombardier has been operating the plant since 1989, when it bought the facility from Short Brothers, one of the oldest plane manufacturers.
A spokesperson of UK Prime Minister Theresa May called the decision of divestment as ‘disappointing’, reported Reuters. However, the decision would not involve job losses.
