Rolls-Royce is considering job cuts of up to 8,000 as the aviation industry faces a major threat from the coronavirus pandemic.

A company source has said job losses could be as high as 8,000, but efforts to mitigate the impact are ongoing.”

The staff reductions have yet to be finalised as talks with labour unions are still ongoing. Rolls-Royce is expected to announce the final number of job losses by the end of May.

“Such action at some point appeared inevitable,” said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Jefferies. “We forecast full year group sales down 12%, but civil aerospace revenue down 18% mainly due to lower engine deliveries. The bad news really all happens in 2020.”

The company’s UK aerospace operation in Derby is expected to take the majority of job losses. The production of widebody plane engines are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic as longhaul flights, which use the larger engines, are likely to be the last to recover.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said the pandemic was “unprecedented”, adding: “We have taken swift action to increase our liquidity, dramatically reduce our spending in 2020, and strengthen our resilience in these exceptionally challenging times.

“But we will need to take further action. We have promised to give our people further details of the impact of the current situation on the size of our workforce before the end of this month.”

www.rolls-royce.com

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