Bell Textron has laid off approximately 285 employees across facilities in Fort Worth, Amarillo, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, as the company adjusts staffing levels and transitions from development into production on key military programs.
According to a Star-Telegram report, The reductions, confirmed through company statements and a letter from Bell CEO Danny Maldonado, affect workers primarily tied to the MV-75 next-generation tiltrotor program.
In addition to the layoffs, Bell is also implementing a temporary furlough affecting select employees beginning June 15, part of what the company describes as a broader effort to align resources with near-term program funding and production pacing.
In a statement, the company said, “Staffing decisions like this are difficult, but they are also necessary to align the company to market realities and position it for the long term.”
According to Maldonado’s letter, the adjustments reflect changes in funding visibility tied to government budget cycles and the transition between development milestones. He noted that as the company shifts from design work into production readiness, additional cost structure changes have become necessary to maintain program stability.
The MV-75 program, which is central to Bell’s current defense portfolio, is part of a long-term effort to deliver a next-generation vertical lift aircraft for military use. The aircraft is intended to replace legacy platforms and is currently in an advanced development phase with production ramp-up expected in the coming years.
Bell emphasized that the layoffs and furloughs are not performance-related and are instead tied to program timing and funding flow. Company officials said the changes are intended to preserve long-term execution capability as production scales up in later phases of the program.
Bell Textron, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., employs roughly 8,000 people worldwide and remains one of the major suppliers of rotary-wing aircraft to U.S. and allied defense customers. The company did not provide additional breakdowns of the layoffs by department or site.
In other words, Bell Textron has decided to outsource their work to India. Workers who earn $9 a hour!!! Just like Boeing did for the 737 max. And that turned out to be a debacle.
Bell Textron is not transitioning the manufacturing or supply chain of the MV-75 to overseas facilities. Instead, Bell is heavily investing in expanding domestic U.S. production and assembly for the Army’s future long-range assault aircraft (FLRAA). [1, 2]
Current Production & Manufacturing Footprint
Bell is actively accelerating the MV-75 program, with the bulk of manufacturing taking place across the following U.S. facilities: [1, 2]
The MV75 is being built in Texas NOT India .do you have ANY proof of your assertions? If not you should not be making them . BTW Boeing build the &#&max in the US. again your assertion is wrong.
I have been on many aircraft and missile program in my 42 years in aerospace the skill set ion development and production are vastly different. In development a place would hire a failrly large number of structural engineers and tooling engineers. after the tooling is designed and proven only a fraction of those people are needed during production same as structural, systems etc. A number of those move to other programs , NCTA, CRAD and the like and a number are laidm off. that is the business and everyone in it knows it. Net effects the best people tend to be kept . they take thier experience to the next program making that go smoother.