About 400 workersat Boeing’s Space Launch System moon rocket program are set to lose jobs after the US planemaker warned on Saturday of layoffs due to revisions to NASA’s Artemis program and cost expectations.
In the coming weeks, Boeing will issue 60-day notices of involuntary layoffs to the affected employees.
Seattle-based aerospace manufacturer is also working with its customers to redeploy employees.
“We are working with our customer and seeking opportunities to redeploy employees across our company to minimize job losses,” a Boeing spokesperson said via email, according to a Reuters report.
The 400 positions amounts to more than one-third of the staff assigned to the Space Launch System program.
Under Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg, the aerospace manufacturer is culling thousands of jobs and paring its holdings.
The Artemis program, estimated to cost $93 billion through 2025, was set up by the US space agency NASA during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
The program involves the flagship American effort to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission.
In November 2022, the SLS rocket made its launch debut after more than a decade of development, sending an uncrewed capsule around the moon as part of the first major test flight for the Artemis campaign.
Boeing expects Indian, South Asian airlines to add over 2,800 jets in next 20 years
Boeing said on Thursday it expects Indian and South Asian airlines will add 2,835 commercial aircraft to their fleet over the next 20 years, a four-fold increase over current levels.
The US planemaker’s previous rolling 20-year market forecast, issued last year, was for 2,705 jets.
“People will have greater access to air travel, and the region’s airlines will require a modern fuel-efficient fleet to meet increased demand over the next two decades,” said Ashwin Naidu, Boeing’s managing director of commercial marketing for India and South Asia.
