Douglas Aircraft Lays Off 1,000; Last of Work-Force Cuts This Year

LONG BEACH —  Douglas Aircraft Co. said today it has sent out 1,000 pink slips this week in the last round of 8,000 layoffs at the aircraft company this year.

“This should be the last time this year that we have a significant amount of layoffs,” said Donald Hanson, a Douglas spokesman.

Nearly all of the latest layoffs, which give workers 60 days’ notice, have hit administrative and support staff rather than assembly line workers.

The latest round of cuts will reduce Douglas’ work force to about 45,000 by the end of the year. The company, a unit of St. Louis-based McDonnell Douglas Corp., operates an assembly plant in Long Beach and other factories in Torrance, Salt Lake City, Columbus, Ohio, and Macon, Ga.

Douglas, which hit a peak employment figure in the first quarter of nearly 53,000, first announced in late April that it would lay off up to 4,000 workers. That figure doubled in July after McDonnell Douglas, hit by a string of poor earnings reports, announced that it would take steps to reduce operating costs by $700 million a year.