Rolls-Royce plans summer shutdown for jet engine plants
Rolls-Royce Holdings
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17:15 25/04/24
Rolls-Royce is closing temporarily its jet engine factories for two weeks this summer as it move to save cash amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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The move will affect all 19,000 staff in its international civil aerospace arm which makes jet engines for airliners, including 12,500 in the UK.
Rolls-Royce’s finances have been hit by the crisis as its airline customers have grounded planes. The company earns cash based on how many hours its engines fly.
It warned last month that global air travel would be even more constrained than expected this year, leading to a higher cash burn.
Employees were made aware of the shutdown in November last year, and were told that the loss of two weeks’ pay will be spread across the year to reduce the impact on their income.
The measures are expected to save the company tens of millions of pounds in wages, plus energy and other running costs.
Rolls said it had “agreed in principle” to enter talks about “delivering a 10% productivity and efficiency improvement” across its civil aerospace business in the UK, as part of a “deal reached with the union”.
“As we continue to manage our cost base in response to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the whole commercial aviation sector, we are proposing a two-week operational shutdown of civil aerospace over the summer,” the company said in a statement.