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Gulfstream Aerospace lays off workers at Love Field

Gulfstream Aerospace and an affiliate are planning to lay off about 25 percent of their combined work force, employed at Love Field facilities in Dallas. The move is a direct result of the recession, which has severely affected the aviation industry.

Majority of the 219 job cuts will come at the end of July at the aircraft manufacturer’s midsize aircraft completion center, which installs interiors and other features on the G150, G200, and G250 private jet models.

“The market for midsize cabin aircraft plummeted last fall, exacerbated by a complete lack of credit,” said Gulfstream spokesman Robert Baugniet.

Officials from General Dynamics, Gulfstream’s parent company, said that the private jet subsidiary will lay off 1,200 employees in a company streamline. 2,200 more will be furloughed by the end of the year from the company’s largest manufacturing complex in Savannah, Ga.

Baugniet said some employees at the service centers have cut their work weeks from 40 to 32 hours.

The private aviation industry has been hit hard by the economic slump. Numerous orders have been delayed, deferred, and worse, cancelled. In Wichita, Cessna Aircraft Co. and Hawker Beechcraft have announced more than 8,000 layoffs.

“As a result of the economy and attacks on business aviation in general, people are flying less hours and some people are shutting down company flight departments as well,” Baugniet said.