Bombardier cuts put Belfast jobs at risk

More than 200 aerospace jobs in Northern Ireland at the old Short Brothers factory are at risk after the owner said it was cutting production rates of one of its aircraft.

Bombardier, the Canadian industrial group that bought Short Brothers 16 years ago, blamed the cuts on a fall in demand for its CRJ200 regional jet. The Belfast plant is the region's largest manufacturing employer and one of the oldest aircraft makers in the world.

Bombardier has a workforce of 5,300 in Belfast. The Montreal-based train and civil aircraft manufacturer said falling orders for its 50-seat jet had forced it to cut production of the aircraft, part of which is built in the city.

The move would see the number of aircraft manufactured drop from 54 next year to 18 in 2007, and could mean the loss of 230 jobs at the firm's Belfast factory.

A spokesman for Bombardier said it was in talks with its workforce and trade unions, and that no decision had been made on when to issue a formal redundancy warning.

The company said it would "explore all possible means to mitigate the number of potential redundancies", but job losses are expected to begin in September and take place over 10 months.

Bombardier said a 41% jump in orders for business jets and a move towards larger aircraft meant there would be fewer aerospace job losses than it predicted - 1,135 instead of the 2,000 announced last October.

A total of 475 Bombardier aerospace workers have already lost their jobs, while the firm's restructuring plan has led to the cutting of 5,100 jobs from its train-making unit and the closure of four train plants.

Bombardier said in Montreal yesterday that the group made pre-tax profits of £33m in its second quarter - up nearly £9.5m on the same time last year - and that it was on course to deliver 329 business jets and regional aircraft in the current financial year, matching the previous year's figure.