Nordam Group Layoffs Continue

The Nordam Group recently laid off 63 more employees, primarily from interiors and structures operations, which are responsible for business aviation cabin components. According to incoming CEO Bill Peacher, who will take over effective January 1, the reduction in force to date has amounted to about 7 percent of the employment base, including salaried, hourly and temporary contract employees, as well as losses due to attrition. The layoffs, he said, are a direct result of a reduction in orders. Nordam employs some 2,700 at operations in Wichita, Kans., the UK and Singapore. “Even our employees understand that if our customers come to us and say, ‘Hey, we’re cutting that order by half,’ we have no choice but to adapt,” he said. Nordam is scheduled to open a facility in Chihuahua, Mexico in February. Peacher said the facility has been a long-term process of planning, training and execution that began in late 2007 and is not related to the current layoffs.