Bell (formerly Bell helicopter), a division of Textron, announced Monday it had let 120 employees go. That figure includes an undisclosed number from the Piney Flats, Tenn., facility. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the separations, but refused to disclose how many employees were cut from any single location, or whether those employees were line workers, management, or others.
Textron recently divested itself of its Tools and Test business for a reported $810 million, but had given no indication cuts were coming at Bell. In its first quarter financial report Bell said its were $752 million, up 8 percent on higher military volume, partially offset by lower commercial revenues due to mix of aircraft sold. The company delivered 46 commercial helicopters in the quarter, up from 27 last year. Segment profit of $87 million was up $4 million, primarily due to the higher volume. Bell backlog at the end of the first quarter was $3.6 billion.
