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To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1641)	5/13/1999 8:16:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Boeing To Cut Up to 7,000 Jobs By The Associated Press -- May 13, 1999 ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Boeing Co.'s recovery from two years of financial troubles suffered a setback Thursday as the aerospace company announced that a decline in orders for its F-15 fighter plane will force the elimination of 6,500 to 7,000 jobs. The job cuts will all take place at the company's massive St. Louis manufacturing operation and will represent roughly 35 percent of the work force there. The cuts will come from the ranks of management and union members and are expected to be completed by mid-2001. Boeing has previously announced that it planned to eliminate anywhere from 43,000 to 53,000 jobs in coming years. The company said that Thursday's announcement pushes its estimate to the higher end of that range. Back in July of 1998, Boeing predicted that its total work force of 238,000 would be reduced to roughly 185,000 to 195,000. Boeing currently employs 219,000. Boeing has blamed most of its job cuts up until now on reduced demand from Asian customers who were suffering from that region's prolonged recession. Most of the previous cuts came in the Puget Sound area near Washington. Boeing suffered another blow last month when the Greek government signed a contract to buy Lockheed Martin's F-16. The F-15 costs about $55 million each, while the F-16, an advanced fighter, goes for about $30 million. Two weeks after Boeing lost the $3.5 billion sale to Greece, the Israeli government postponed a $2.5 billion F-15 purchase. The Greek order alone could have kept the Boeing line open two more years. ''Once we completed an assessment of our business environment based on the April 30 decision by the government of Greece, we decided to let our team and the community know as soon as possible what to expect for the foreseeable future,'' said Jerry Daniels, Boeing vice president, general manager and St. Louis site director. ''We remain committed to St. Louis and are taking these steps to ensure our competitiveness on our existing work, including a multiyear contract on C-17 and a proposed multiyear buy of the FA-18EF and on future programs, such as the joint strike fighter.'' Roughly 800-900 St. Louis workers already have been given notice, said Daniels. About 300 to 400 workers would be let go every month until the reduction is complete. The F-15, first manufactured in 1972, is one of the old and best-known fighter planes. Daniels said displaced St. Louis employees may find work at other Boeing sites. Missouri lawmakers said loss of the F-15 jeopardizes U.S. national security. ''The F-15 is the very best fighter airplane in the world,'' said Sen. John Ashcroft. ''If we allow the line to go down where we don't have the next generation available to us, we put U.S. security at risk,'' he said. More than 1,500 F-15s have been delivered to the U.S. Air Force, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Japan. Current orders for the F-15 will be completed by early 2000. Peter Jacobs, a Boeing analyst at Ragen Mackenzie Inc. in Seattle, said the production declines in St. Louis will hurt Boeing's revenue in 2000 and 2001, but the company may also face a longer term problem rehiring skilled workers after that. Boeing will need these workers as it ramps up production of the F-18 Super Hornet, a new carrier-based fighter which is being built in St. Louis, Jacobs said. ''One of the challenges Boeing will now face is getting the skilled work force to come back when they're needed, he said. Jacobs added that the F-15s are at the tail end of their delivery cycle. ''Even if Boeing would have won the order from Greece and got the full order from Israel, it would probably have still resulted in job reductions in St. Louis.'' There was a bit of good news for Boeing Thursday. Boeing said it agreed to protect more than 3,000 Puget Sound area maintenance and facilities jobs that had been scheduled for elimination. The company said it saved those jobs after union workers agreed to productivity improvements.