Boeing cuts jobs at Michoud facility in New Orleans East | Business News

Boeing Begins Layoffs at Michoud Assembly Facility Due to NASA’s Artemis II Delay

Boeing has started laying off employees at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, following NASA’s announcement of a nearly year-long delay in the launch of its Artemis II rocket. The company, which is the prime contractor responsible for making the Space Launch System rockets used in NASA’s Artemis program, confirmed that an unspecified number of workers were notified of job cuts on Friday.

Boeing employs nearly 1,100 workers in Louisiana, with the majority based at Michoud. A company spokesperson mentioned that only a portion of those jobs will be cut, and Boeing is working to reassign as many employees as possible to minimize job losses.

The layoffs are not limited to Michoud, as employees at Boeing’s Huntsville, Alabama plant were also informed of layoffs. Earlier this month, over 1,000 workers assigned to the SLS program were briefed on the impending cuts in an internal company meeting.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to send manned crews back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. The SLS rocket that powered Artemis I was successfully launched in 2022 from Michoud, traveling 280,000 miles into space without a crew.

Teams at Michoud have been working on SLS rockets for Artemis II and III. However, NASA recently pushed back the launch dates for Artemis II and III, causing uncertainty for the future of the program.

The job cuts at Michoud are a setback for New Orleans East, which has been striving to attract jobs and commerce to the area. The news of the layoffs has disappointed local officials, highlighting the broader impact of Boeing’s challenges on the community and the country as a whole.