Canada's Bombardier has said it is planning to cut as many as 7,000 jobs, one of the deepest job cuts in the company's history, as it struggles to win orders for its signature CSeries passenger jet.
One third of the job losses will be in Canada and the elimination of positions will be completed over the next two years.
Bombardier said it made a loss of $5.34 billion in 2015 and that the fourth quarter loss was $677 million.
Bombardier said the layoffs, which represent about 10 per cent of the global workforce, will help revive the company.
"Today I feel we have done our homework. We are at the right place and I feel good about our ability to turn Bombardier around given these actions," CEO Alain Bellemare said, according to CTV News.
Along with the bad news, Bombardier said it ended an 18-month sales drought for the CSeries passenger jet, sealing a deal to sell 45 CSeries 300 planes to Air Canada.
Bellemare hoped the Air Canada deal will prompt other big airlines to buy the CSeries.
"It would be a big endorsement from any large airline carrier but having it from your own base ... is a big deal. I cannot underestimate the positive impact that this will have on the program."
The Cseries manufacturing is two years behind schedule and the company has already spent more than $2 billion in excess of the original budget.
