Spain announces agreement with industry and unions to preserve its aeronautical industry

Government, industry, and trade union representatives in Spain have agreed on a six-point action plan aimed at preserving production capacity and job levels in the country’s aeronautical sector in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Announcing the scheme, the government said on 4 February that it will be based on the modernisation of production plants, a support fund for the supply chain, a promise of sustained government spending, investments in research and development (R&D), support for professional training, and an effort to maintain jobs.

Negotiations have been carried out between the ministries of defence, labour, and industry; the state-owned holding company SEPI (Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales); the main trade union organisations UGT (Union of General Workers) and the CC.OO (Workers’ Commissions); and the aeronautics, defence, security, and space industry umbrella association, TEDAE (Asociación Española de Tecnologías de Defensa, Aeronáutica y Espacio).

The prime minister’s office said after the signing that the aim was to protect a strategic sector that had been severely affected by the pandemic, in particular to preserve capabilities in the design, manufacture, and certification for complete aircraft – “assets that few countries possess and that should be preserved”.

The modernisation plan would include tractor projects, participatory loans, and financial support from the state-run ENISA (Empresa Nacional de Innovacion), and new lines of support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Investment would include drawing up a new technological aeronautical plan to promote training and updating the skills of workers whose employment has been affected by the pandemic.