Employees at Textron Aviation in Wichita could experience upcoming job cuts as its parent company plans to reduce its workforce and close other facilities due to a downturn in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board of directors of Textron Inc., the parent company of Textron Aviation, on Thursday approved a restructuring plan that will impact Textron Aviation, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The report, also filed Thursday, does not indicate how many jobs in Wichita will be impacted by the plan to reduce Textron’s workforce. Textron officials did not immediately respond to an email requesting further information Friday morning.
The restructuring plan includes headcount reductions, facility consolidations and other actions, according to the filing. The company is implementing the measures “in response to the economic challenges and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In all, nearly 2,000 positions with Textron Inc. will be eliminated, according to the filing — about 6% of the company’s workforce. The plan will also impact employees with the TRU Simulation + Training business, which is headquartered in South Carolina.
TRU will cease manufacturing at its Montreal, Canada, facility, according to the filing, suspending production of its commercial air transport simulators.
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The job cuts and other parts of the plan, including facility closures, are expected to be mostly completed by the end of the year.
In the Textron Aviation segment, the workforce reductions will be both “indirect and direct” as the company sees lower demand, the filing says. In addition to a decreased demand for airplanes, the coronavirus pandemic also reduced demand for airport ground support equipment produced by the Textron Specialized Vehicles (TSV) business.
At TSV, the company will reduce its workforce and implement facility rationalizations, which could include the sale of assets or closures of some facilities and expansion of others.
The severance costs to Textron could total $60 to $70 million. The company’s restructuring charges could range from $110 million to $130 million total, according to the filing.
Textron Aviation is based in Wichita and is the second largest employer in the area, with around 9,500 full-time workers, according to the Greater Wichita Partnership.
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