Covid-19 impact: Airbus warns staff of job cuts, says 'survival at stake'

Airbus is also in active discussions with European governments about tapping schemes to assist struggling industries, including state-guaranteed loans

European planemaker Airbus issued a bleak assessment of the impact of the coronavirus crisis, telling the company's 135,000 employees to brace for potentially deeper job cuts and warning its survival is at stake without immediate action.

In a letter to staff, Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said Airbus was "bleeding cash at an unprecedented speed" and that a recent drop of a third or more in production rates did not reflect the worst-case scenario and would be kept under review, the Reuters reported.

Airbus said it did not comment on internal communications.

The letter was sent to employees late on Friday,