On BFM Business, Paolo Del Noce, CEO France of Akka Technologies, confided his fears for the aeronautics sector in 2021. The group will cut 900 jobs in France, including 800 in Toulouse.
2020 will have been a dark year for aeronautics. For Paolo Del Noce, Chairman and CEO France of Akka Technologies, the crisis is far from over. Invited on BFM Business this Thursday, the manager fears that the effects of this crisis will continue “over the years to come”.
“The big difference with the 2008 crisis which mainly concerned the automobile (for Akka Technologies, Editor’s note), is the uncertainty. We do not see what will happen in the years to come. Some of our customers are talking about a return to normal in 2024, for others it will be 2025. The truth is that we do not know what will happen “, recognizes Paolo Del Noce.
Earlier this week, the group announced its intention to cut 900 jobs in France, including 800 in Toulouse, 40 in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) and the rest in Paris. The leader recalls that training plans have limited the number of layoffs. 450 people have been trained and as many jobs saved in France, according to the manager.
Reboot in China
The CEO of Akka France believes that this particular situation leads the industry to make quick decisions.
“We cannot wait without knowing,” he explained, adding that the stopping of air transport has led the big companies to put their development projects on hold.
The consequences of this situation were brutal. In the first quarter, the loss was 20.9%, in the second the engineering company lost 34% of its turnover. In the third quarter, the loss was 50%.
“What we see for next year is the continuation of this train which leads to a 50% reduction”, estimates Paolo Del Noce.
Will the restart of activity in China have consequences on activity? According to Paolo Del Doce, “it has not yet had an impact in Europe”.
The Akka group has 22,000 employees worldwide for a turnover of 1.8 billion euros in 2019.
–
