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In Honeywell's Effort to Streamline, Jobs Are Lost

Posted on: Thursday, 30 June 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jun. 30--Honeywell International Inc. is eliminating about 80 jobs at its Olathe avionics plant, citing the need to control costs and become more competitive.

The employees, who are in the engineering and information technology departments, were notified Wednesday and will be leaving the company over the next few days, said Bill Reavis, a Honeywell spokesman.

"There will be a severance package for all eligible employees, including outplacement assistance," he said.

The Olathe Honeywell plant, which produces navigation equipment for business and personal aircraft, employed about 1,200 people prior to the layoff announcement.

Reavis said Wednesday's layoff was not related to Honeywell's announcement earlier this month that it will reorganize its Phoenix-based aerospace unit, the company's biggest division with about 40,000 employees. The Olathe facility is part of that division.

Honeywell has not specified how many cuts will result from the reorganization. Industry analysts suggested as many as 2,000 jobs could be affected.

Reavis said it was not known whether the reorganization would lead to more job losses in Olathe.

"That reorganization is still evolving," he said. "The company is still looking at what is needed and is still in the process of designing that reorganization."

Honeywell Aerospace currently is aligned by product groups. The reorganization and subsequent downsizing, which will continue through the rest of the year, will result in three segments and is intended to simplify interaction with customers. The three segments will be air transport/regional; business and general aviation; and defense and space.

The realignment takes effect next Tuesday.

Unaffected by the reorganization is Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, which under contract operates a plant owned by the Department of Energy in Kansas City. The facility makes non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons and employs about 3,000 people.

Honeywell, the world's biggest manufacturer of cockpit controls for aircraft, had revenues of $2.5 billion for the first quarter of the fiscal year.

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HON,

Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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