Rolls-Royce Closing Virginia Jet Parts Plant With 280 Workers
WASHINGTON (Fox News) - Rolls-Royce will close its aircraft parts factory in central Virginia by the middle of next year, throwing 280 people out of work, the company confirmed.
The closing is the result of the decline in global travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. There had already been 120 layoffs at the plant in June.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a historic collapse in civil aviation which will take several years to recover. As a result, we’ve had to make difficult, but necessary, decisions to protect the future of our business,” Rolls-Royce North America spokesman Don Campbell said in a statement. British-based Rolls-Royce has its North American headquarters in northern Virginia.
The factory opened in 2011 in an office park in Prince George County, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Richmond.
The closing is the result of the decline in global travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. There had already been 120 layoffs at the plant in June.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a historic collapse in civil aviation which will take several years to recover. As a result, we’ve had to make difficult, but necessary, decisions to protect the future of our business,” Rolls-Royce North America spokesman Don Campbell said in a statement. British-based Rolls-Royce has its North American headquarters in northern Virginia.
The factory opened in 2011 in an office park in Prince George County, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Richmond.