Airbus has announced plans to cut over 2,000 jobs in its Defence and Space division, representing about 5% of its workforce. This reduction is attributed to the multinational company’s struggles in the satellites sector, particularly in the face of intense competition from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
The multinational company builds satellites and transporters and has key shares in European missile, fighter and space-launch programmes.
The job cuts will primarily affect white-collar and management positions, with a focus on overheads and fixed costs. The Space Systems business will bear the brunt of the reductions, with 1,128 positions impacted, largely due to heavy losses on satellite projects. Airbus has assured that there will be no compulsory redundancies.
In October, Airbus announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs in Defence and Space, or 7% of the workforce, after 1.5 billion euros of writedowns in satellites led by troubled OneSat.
In the plans outlined to unions to Wednesday, and later confirmed by the company, Airbus is cutting 250 jobs in its Air Power or combat aircraft sub-division and 47 in Connected Intelligence. The divisional headquarters will shed 618 posts.
The job cuts are expected to be implemented by mid-2026, with Germany bearing the largest share of the reductions (689 positions affected), followed by France (540), Britain (477), Spain (303), and other non-core nations (34).
The four nations founded Airbus over 50 years ago and the share of any cost cutting is a politically sensitive topic.
Airbus has group headquarters in France where most of its jetliners are built, but Germany is home to its defence and space operations. Military transport aircraft are assembled in Spain, with Britain focusing on satellite payloads and communications.
Europe's top satellite makers have traditionally focused on complex spacecraft in geostationary orbit but have been hit by the arrival of SpaceX's cheap small satellites in low Earth orbit.
Elon Musk's Starlink has disrupted the traditional satellite industry with its low-cost, high-capacity constellation of small satellites. This has forced European satellite makers, including Airbus, to reassess their business strategies and adapt to the changing market.
Airbus is exploring ways to counter Starlink’s dominance, including proposals to create a new European satellites champion through a pooling of activities with France's Thales and Italy's Leonardo, code-named “Project Bromo.” This initiative aims to strengthen Europe’s struggling space sector and better compete with Starlink.
Thales, which has two alliances with Leonardo in satellites and services, is also in talks with unions over plans to cut 1,300 space-related positions.
Airbus has group headquarters in France where most of its jetliners are built, but Germany is home to its defence and space operations. Military transport aircraft are assembled in Spain, with Britain focusing on satellite payloads and communications.
