Bell Helicopter is cutting 325 workers, primarily in its Fort Worth facilities, the company announced Monday. The layoffs will include management and non-management employees who are both union-represented and non-unionized, according to Bell officials.
“The realities of Bell Helicopter’s business continue to change. The reductions in U.S. defense budgets are real and sequestration has made the future for defense spending more uncertain than ever. As anticipated, the V-22 Multi-Year II contract reduces the build rate on Bell Helicopter’s biggest program by nearly half, which will negatively affect the level of work in our Fort Worth manufacturing centers,” the company said in a statement.
Bell, a division of Providence, R.I.-based Textron Inc., has cut about 700 jobs since early 2013. In late April, Bell announced CareFlite is now using four Bell 407GX helicopters for transports. These aircraft will transport ill or injured patients to critical care facilities and one will be based out of Granbury Municipal Airport while the other will originate from Harris Methodist Fort Worth. – Robert Francis