Delay in CTA Bus Order Leads to Layoffs at New Flyer
- By Kevin Zolkiewicz
Bus manufacture New Flyer Industries will lay off approximately 13% of its workforce by the end of the year, the company announced today. The layoffs are being blamed on the deferral of an order for 140 hybrid articulated buses from the Chicago Transit Authority.
Last month, New Flyer announced a production decrease resulting from deferral of the CTA order. The cause of the delay was pinned on delays in the CTA receiving state funding. New Flyer planned to commence production of the order in late July.
New Flyer will be forced to lay off 270 unionized employees and 50 managers from its plants in the United States and Canada.
According to a report from the Winnipeg Sun, the CTA said that talks with New Flyer were ongoing and the transit agency hopes to sign the contract in a month or two.
The contract, which included options for up to 900 hybrid articulated buses, was originally awarded to New Flyer last December.
New Flyer is the manufacture of a majority of CTA’s bus fleet. The agency is currently accepting delivery of 58 New Flyer hybrid articulated buses which were purchased with federal stimulus funds. Delivery of the order is scheduled for completion by fall.