Latecoere shows 212 employees the door in Letňany

The French company Latecoere, which makes door planes laid off 212 full-time staff from its factory in Letňany, roughly one-third of its workforce. That followed the firing of 60 agency employees in March as the company reacted to a sudden drop in orders. "Orders from Airbus fell 40 to 50 percent, Boeing stopped completely," said a local labor leader. "Since halfways through April, we've been working about three weeks per month and then we're home for a week. Production should pick up again in October," he told Hospodářské noviny. With most of the world's airlines currently on life support, begging for bail outs from their governments, orders for new planes have dried up. Boeing was already in serious trouble following two crashes of its newest 737 Max planes thanks to shortcuts taken in the design process and insufficient pilot training. The company delivered just six airplanes in April, its lowest figure in 11 years. Latecoere has been active in Letňany since 2000, when it bought a factory that once produced wings for MiG-21 fighter jets. HN reports that 42 companies carried out mass layoffs in April with 3,300 people losing their jobs. That was down from the 44 companies that let 5,000 employees go in March.