The aerospace giant said the move would create a “more effective and efficient organisational structure” and additional “end-to-end accountability”.
The move follows two years of heavy losses and significantly comes after rival Boeing also revealed it would cut 17,000 roles.
Airbus is now best known in the space sector for its work creating the lower service module on the Orion spacecraft set to take humans back to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis missions.
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“In recent years, the defence and space sector and, thus, our division have been impacted by a fast changing and very challenging business context with disrupted supply chains, rapid changes in warfare and increasing cost pressure due to budgetary constraints,” Airbus Defence and Space CEO Mike Schoellhorn said.
“While transformation efforts initiated in 2023 have started bearing fruit, particularly on operational performance and risk management, we are now taking the next steps, not least to adjust to an increasingly difficult space market.
“We want to shape the division so it can act as a leading and competitive player in this ever-evolving market. This requires us to become faster, leaner and more competitive.
“Airbus has a long track record of acting as a responsible employer in difficult situations and this time will be no different.
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“It is clear though that we must adapt if we want to champion our industry and lead Europe’s ecosystem of defence aerospace.”
Details of this plan will be specified together with the company’s social partners.
Earlier this month, Boeing revealed its own defence and space division would record “substantial new losses” this quarter, a development it blamed as one reason behind cutting 10 per cent of the company’s overall workforce.
In a sombre memo to staff, Kelly Ortberg also revealed its defence and space division would record “substantial new losses” this quarter and the company would delay the launch of its new flagship aircraft, the 777X, until 2026.
“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” he wrote.
“Beyond navigating our current environment, restoring our company requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive and deliver for our customers over the long term.
“We need to be clear-eyed about the work we face and realistic about the time it will take to achieve key milestones on the path to recovery.
“We also need to focus our resources on performing and innovating in the areas that are core to who we are, rather than spreading ourselves across too many efforts that can often result in underperformance and underinvestment.”
The news follows another tough year for Boeing, which included a door plug blowing out of a 737 MAX 9 in mid-air and the bodged return of its Starliner spacecraft.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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