Air Transport

Boeing plans to shed 6% of its overall workforce, or roughly 10,000 jobs, after reporting a $56 million loss in the fourth quarter.

The job cuts include a plan announced last month to reduce the payroll at Boeing Commercial Airplanes by 4,500 employees. Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) also has already announced a plan to reduce the payroll at its Wichita site by about 900 workers.

The remaining balance of the cuts are divided between IDS and Shared Services Group divisions, and are spread across the company's work sites.

In December, Boeing forecasted a 5% job reduction in 2009, but increased that projection in recent weeks as economic conditions continued to worsen. Boeing also cited uncertainty for the US defence budget.

Boeing is "facing one of the most difficult commercial and financing environments that most of us have ever seen", said company CEO James McNerney today during an investors call.