GE Aviation To Cut 1,000 Jobs This Year

General Electric's jet-engine unit aims to reduce its white-collar staff by more than 1,000 people this year, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The job cuts, from a base of 16,000 salaried employees, would come through attrition, retirements, buyout packages, and some layoffs, said Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for GE Aviation. The company does not plan to reduce its manufacturing head count.

"This is the most difficult year for anyone in aviation to try to forecast," Kennedy said, citing the global financial crisis.