Boeing to lay off more than 13,000 workers including 6,700 involuntary job cuts as the aerospace giant reels from coronavirus crisis

• Boeing announced 6,770 involuntary layoffs in the US on Wednesday
• Cuts will start this week as a part of the in a previously announced plan to shed 10% of its 160,000 global workforce due to coronavirus pandemic
• Another 5,520 workers were approved for voluntary severance packages
• The coronavirus pandemic has worsened the aerospace giant's crisis, reeling from a plunge in sales due to two crashes of its 737 Max aircraft
• CEO Dave Calhoun sent a message to employees Wednesday announcing the cuts saying: 'I wish there were some other way' 
• This is the first major reduction in staff by the company since 2017 when it laid off around 1,500 workers 
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Boeing announced it will involuntarily lay off nearly 7,000 employees in the US as a part of a wave of 13,000 global cuts in a previously announced plan to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

The aerospace giant disclosed there will be roughly 6,770 involuntary layoffs among US employees. Another 5,520 workers were approved for voluntary severance packages and will leave over the next few weeks. 

All layoff notices will be delivered this week in the plan to shed 10 percent of the company's 160,00-strong global workforce as the company reels from a plunge in airline business caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its own 737 Max jet crisis.  

Boeing has been facing a crisis over the past two years following two fatal crashes, one in Indonesia in October 2018 and another in Ethiopia in March 2019, that killed all 346 on board and led to the grounding of the entire worldwide 737 Max fleet. 

The coronavirus outbreak only deepened Boeing's instability. Last month Boeing had zero plane orders for the second time in 2020. 

Under the company’s voluntary layoff program Boeing is offering staff buyouts, but thousands of more jobs are slated to be cut over the next few months. 

The company said Wednesday it is still working on its overseas layoff plans.

This is the first major reduction in staff by the company since 2017 when it laid off roughly 1,500 workers. 

CEO Dave Calhoun sent a message to employees Wednesday saying the pandemic's impact 'means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices.'  

'We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery. I wish there were some other way,' he added. 

Wednesday's cuts 'represent the largest segment of layoffs', a Boeing spokesman said to Politico. A majority of Boeing workforce is located in the US. 

The cuts are focused on its commercial jetliner business, but the company didn’t provide details on which units or locations would be affected by the cuts, as per the Wall Street Journal.

Union officials said the lay offs will hit Seattle-area aircraft assembly operations.

Some suppliers to Boeing’s airplane factors near Seattle have already announced job cuts, according to state employment records.

Boeing is cutting its output of its 787 twin-aisle jet and will resume limited production of the 737 MAX jetliner this quarter, after stopping output back in January while awaiting regulatory clearance to fly again following the crashes.

The job cuts in the airline industry are being felt across the board.

Rival company Airbus SE has cut jetliner production by one third. General Electric, which makes engines and parts for planemakers, also cut thousands of jobs.

The union said Tuesday that about 1,300 members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace applied for the company’s voluntary layoff package and were accepted.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said about 1,200 of its members at Boeing accepted voluntary layoffs.