Textron’s Bell to lay off 325 workers, citing sequestration

TEXTRON'S BELL HELICOPTER announced Monday that it will lay off 325 employees mainly at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as a result of declining defense contracts. Above, the V-22 aircraft that Boeing and Bell Helicopter supply for the U.S. Navy. / COURTESY TEXTRON INC.
TEXTRON'S BELL HELICOPTER announced Monday that it will lay off 325 employees mainly at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, as a result of declining defense contracts. Above, the V-22 aircraft that Boeing and Bell Helicopter supply for the U.S. Navy. / COURTESY TEXTRON INC.

FORTH WORTH, Texas – Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Providence-based manufacturer Textron Inc., will lay off 325 workers due to the continued decline in defense contracts, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Monday.

The cuts, which will include both managerial and nonmanagerial personnel mainly at Bell Helicopter’s Fort Worth headquarters, will bring Bell’s total layoffs to more than 700 since last year.

CEO John Garrison said in a memo to employees on Monday that the latest round of staff reductions were “necessary to ensure that Bell Helicopter remains a viable business in the future” and were the result of the impact of automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, which have affected defense contractors across the board.

Last week, Textron reported that its Bell Helicopter segment saw revenue fall 8 percent in the first quarter to $873 million. Textron – which includes Cessna Aircraft Co., Beechcraft Corp. and Textron Systems, in addition to Bell – saw its overall revenue largely unchanged in the first quarter at $2.85 billion.

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