Textron Aviation announced this March a plan to furlough 7,000 Wichita workers over four weeks. Employees will not be paid during this time, but Textron has noted employees can use vacation and earned time off during the furlough.
Textron issued the following statement:
In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the company has been taking increased action with such measures as limiting large group meetings, increasing daily cleaning of its facilities, restricting travel, and cancelling our participation in several global meetings and events.
Today we announced we are implementing a four-week furlough for most of our U.S. based employees, to be taken during the Monday, March 23 through Friday, May 29 timeframe.
This decision will allow us to do our part in mitigating and containing the spread of the COVID-19 through social distancing, while continuing to support our customers.
In addition to the furloughs, we are adjusting production to align with anticipated market demand.
As tough as this situation is, the safety and well-being of our employees and customers remains our top priority.
This is a rapidly evolving situation and we continue monitoring the guidance of the CDC and local governing health authorities to ensure we are developing the best policies and practices for our company.