Aircraft engineers cut jobs

The redundancies follow the airline industry collapse

Two hundred and fifty jobs are to go at an aircraft engineering factory in Devon.

The redundancies are at the Centrax factory which is based in Newton Abbot.

The company makes blades for aeroplane engines, mainly Boeing and Rolls Royce, as well as other turbine equipment.

Centrax is reported to be cutting the jobs because of the downturn of the airline industry in the wake of the terror attacks in America.

Centrax manufacture turbine equipment

About 1,000 staff work at the engineering factory.

In recent years it had been recruiting staff to help cope with a growing number of orders.

Of the 250 job losses, the majority will be from the shop floor. However, some white collar workers will also lose their jobs.

The AEEU union says a 90-day consultation period has now begun.

Airline industry

Officials say they were not surprised by the news because of how hard the airline industry has been hit in recent weeks.

The company says it has been forced, like many of its competitors, to cut costs in the light of recent international events.

The news followed the announcement on Tuesday that 700 workers are to lose their jobs at Nortel Networks' plant in Paignton.

The announcement to staff brought the number of Nortel losses in Paignton to almost 4,000 since February.