PARIS: When all depressing travel and tourism news was pouring in, the rare good news is that Airbus has said it expects production and assembly work to partially resume in France and Spain today, March 24.
The manufacturer had stopped work for health and safety checks after the implementation of stringent measures to combat the spread of Covid-19.
Airbus has carried out extensive work in coordination with its social partners to ensure the health and safety of its employees while securing business continuity.
The implementation of these measures required a temporary pause in production and assembly activities at the French and Spanish sites for a period of four days.
Workstations will only re-open if they comply with the new health and safety measures in terms of hygiene, cleaning, and self-distancing while improving the efficiency of operations under new working conditions.
The same measures are being deployed across all other sites without full interruption. For other non-production activities globally, Airbus continues to support home-working where possible.
Some employees will be asked to return to support business continuity following the implementation of these new measures.
In February, the Airbus final assembly line in Tianjin, China, reopened following a temporary production stoppage related to the coronavirus outbreak and is now operating efficiently.
“Health and safety are our number one priority at Airbus so the work stations at our sites in France and Spain will only re-open if they meet the required standards,” said Airbus Chief Executive, Guillaume Faury.
“I’d like to salute the strong commitment from our employees to ensure business continuity in close cooperation with our social partners and other stakeholders.
“At the same time, we are doing all we can to support those on the frontline to fight the coronavirus and limit its spread. We try to live up to our values, humbled by the complexity of the situation, and contribute as much as we can to society in these very difficult times.”
