Impact Not That Bad So Far

A hiring freeze announced last week by Airbus CEO Christian Streiff is taking its toll on all the planemaker's facilities worldwide... including Airbus' North America Engineering Center in Wichita, KS.

Plant general manager Bill Greer told the Wichita Eagle that so far, the freeze hasn't affected operations at that facility very much... in fact, new hires the company had planned to bring onboard before the freeze were still able to find jobs.

Greer added, however, the situation could change if the freeze remains in effect for a long time.

An Airbus spokeswoman said the temporary hiring freeze is due to the recent replacement of former Airbus chief Gustav Humbert by Streiff.

"The temporary hiring freeze is pretty standard operating procedure for a company with a brand new CEO," said spokeswoman Mary Anne Greczyn. "He (Streiff) has to be able to fully assess the company and its growing list of successful projects while the organization is in a stable state."

Airbus employs 57,000 people worldwide, including about 200 at its wing design center in Wichita... where workers are tasked with developing the wing for the freighter version of the upcoming A380.

FMI: www.airbus.com