Air Transport

Airbus is continuing to take on more engineering staff in preparation for increased A380 design work, as more parts begin to flow through the assembly lines. The company is also increasing numbers of employees on the A400Mmilitary airlifter project.

Airbus plans to recruit 500 new engineers and over 1,000 blue collar manufacturing staff next year. The company aims to end 2002 with an increased headcount of 46,000, having hired 2,000 staff this year, including 1,000 engineers.

"At least 30% of the new engineers are expected to be recent graduates", says Karen Tegmair, who is leading a joint Airbus-Pegasus roadshow targeting 15 leading European aerospace universities. The 20-strong Pegasus network includes Cranfield in the UK, Delft in the Netherlands, and SUPAERO in France.

Earlier this year, Airbus imposed an effective hiring freeze across all non-critical programmes to save costs.

Tegmair now says, however, that hiring will proceed to keep skill levels intact.