GE cuts Scots aircraft jobs

The factory makes plane components

An estimated 170 jobs are to be shed at an aircraft components factory at Prestwick in Ayrshire.

GE Caledonian Ltd, which is part of the US giant General Electric, is to cut the jobs after a fall in orders.

The Amalgamated Electrical and Engineering Union said the firm had been affected by the shockwaves of the 11 September terror attacks in the United States.

The news came after Scottish food firm Grampian Country Food Group announced plans to shed 130 jobs because of the fall in demand for in-flight meals.

Danny Carrigan, AEEU Scottish regional secretary, said conveners at the plant had made him aware of the redundancies.

The Prestwick plant employs 1,000 people and workers had been told the cutbacks were a result of declining orders following the worldwide slump affecting air travel.

Mr Carrigan said: "We hoped that companies such as GE Caledonian could ride out the short-term problems.

"We will be meeting with trade union representatives with a view to finding out whether we can do anything to save some jobs."

GE was first established in the UK in the 1930s and employs 21,000 people across the country.