Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Dassault Falcon Jet Lays Off 205 at Little Rock Facility

2 min read

(THVideo: Click here to watch a THVideo report on the layoffs.)

Dassault Falcon Jet announced Friday afternoon that it has laid off 150 employees and 55 contract workers at its Little Rock Completion Center.

The company said the layoffs would "align workforce levels with lower sales and production rates."

This past June, Dassault laid off 111 Little Rock workers, while 42 others took part in an "early out" program.

Dassault operates a completions center at the Little Rock National Airport, where it paints and completes interiors on many of the company’s jets before the planes are delivered to customers.

"The challenges of the global economy continue to force us to make very difficult decisions," John Rosanvallon, president and CEO of Dassault Falcon, said in a news release Friday afternoon. "While we see signs that the business aviation market may be stabilizing, it’s too early to predict when sustained growth will return to our industry.

"The decision to lay off even one worker is a very painful one.  Such action is only taken as a last resort and our objective is to preserve as many jobs as possible."

The company said Friday’s layoffs will not affect current Falcon Jet delivery schedules. Dassault’s Aircraft Services division in Little Rock is not affected, the company said. 

In addition, Dassault announced it was laying off an additional nine employees from its U.S. headquarters in Teterboro, N.J.

The French company had 2008 revenue of $3.2 billion, according to self-reported revenue figures and estimates from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

The company in September 2008 dedicated a $14 million, 66,500-SF paint hangar facility as part of an ongoing $30 million expansion.

In May 2007, the company announced a $20 million project to add 116,000 SF of production, design and warehouse space to the completion center, and in August 2007, the company said it would double the space for its service center in a $10 million project.

The completion of the 2008 project increased the complex’s footprint to more than 900,000 SF.

Send this to a friend