ABSTRACT
US defense budget cuts following the end of the cold war coupled with the recessionary forces of the 1980s and its impact on commercial airlines' profitability adversely affected the growth of the aerospace industry. Aerospace firms were basically unprepared to respond to these significant challenges. It is estimated that over 150,000 jobs were lost in the US as a direct result of these industry changes , The downsizing or "rightsizing" that occurred during this period has not been restricted to the United States: the United Kingdom lost almost 50,000 aerospace jobs between 1989 and 1992 and France reduced its aerospace labor force to just over 100,000. According to most estimates, the industry as a whole suffered a 30% over-capacity in the early 1990s (Hayward, 1994 p. 1; Flight, 2/8/92:32 & 2/9/92:51).
