Aero-engine giant Rolls-Royce has confirmed 50 job losses at its Bristol plant as part of a major redundancy programme in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.
The group, which primarily builds engines for military aircraft and vessels at Filton, has been rocked by the impact of coronavirus on the global air travel industry. 
As reported by Bristol Business News last week, it is planning to axe 9,000 jobs from its civil aerospace division globally.
This week it confirmed around 3,000 jobs will go in the UK – 1,500 will be lost in Derby and the East Midlands, while jobs in Glasgow, Solihull, Ansty and Trentham and plants in Lancashire will also go.
Rolls-Royce also said it was opening up voluntary severance to all its employees in the UK within civil aerospace and told its staff about the likely impact of the cuts on their sites.
Derby is home to the group’s main civil aviation business making engines for planemakers such as Airbus and Boeing.
With much of Filton’s output geared towards military aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, the plant was expected to escape the worst of the job cuts.
The plant is Rolls-Royce’s second largest after Derby employing around 3,000 mostly highly skilled engineers.
However, some production of parts is linked to civil aircraft engines made at Derby – and with international air travel all but ceasing due to the coronavirus pandemic and an estimated 15,000 aeroplanes grounded by airlines, future orders for airliner engines look bleak.
As a result, the voluntary severance scheme is open to some of its Bristol-based workforce engaged in manufacturing assembly and test, which Rolls-Royce says has been impacted by reduced workload from civil aerospace. The submarines part of the business is not offering voluntary severance.
A Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: “Following constructive talks with trade union and employee representatives, we have opened voluntary severance to all civil aerospace employees in the UK.
“Offering voluntary severance is an important step as we resize our business to adapt to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the aviation industry.
“Because of the unprecedented impact of the crisis on our civil aerospace business, we will unfortunately lose people who have worked hard to establish our world-leading position.”
Rolls-Royce has invested heavily in its Bristol plant over recent years to make it a world-leader in aero-engine design and manufacturing
