The CEO’s June 9 letter provoked anger and indignation among Airbus employees. In an open letter (see full letter below), the CGT directly replies to Mr Guillaume Faury.
No, employees are not responsible for management’s failures!
In its letter, the CGT denounces the blaming of sick workers, the reduction of remote work, the increase in production rates at all costs, and the intensification of labor (« doing more in less time »). With these ingredients, Mr. Faury has found the ideal recipe for burnouts and workplace accidents!
It is not the employees who set unattainable goals; it is up to management to take responsibility and provide the necessary resources to match its ambitions. Facing the challenge of aviation decarbonization and preparing for the future requires massive investments today, not the cuts demanded by Mr. Faury.
Airbus’s success is not a matter of chance!
It relies entirely on the know-how and daily commitment of the employees.
If management wants a « Team Airbus at its best, » this requires improving our working conditions, rather than degrading them, and implementing better wage policies.
The CGT demands:
- A reduction in working hours for everyone, rather than a reduction in remote work;
- A massive and sustainable hiring plan to alleviate the workload;
- The immediate opening of salary negotiations with general increases for all, at a minimum aligned with inflation (HICP +2.8% annually in May) and career progression increases at least +1.8% above inflation.
« Team Airbus » expects management to start by respecting them and paying them decently.
Join the CGT!
Full CGT letter :
Toulouse, June 29, 2026
To: Mr. Guillaume Faury, CEO, Airbus
Subject: Response to your June 9 letter addressed to all group employees
Sir,
Your letter sent on June 9 to all employees has sparked a wave of dissatisfaction, anger, and even indignation.
In it, you claim that the first quarter was « disappointing, » that we must « do more in less time, » and « work relentlessly. » To support your argument, you put forward the goals and commitments you made to customers, holding employees co-responsible for them. In reality, as far as the CGT is concerned, your true objective is to put ever-increasing pressure on employees in order to give even more to shareholders!
Your communication comes in the wake of numerous strikes and mobilizations across the group following a 50% drop in the profit-sharing bonus. With skyrocketing inflation, employees are suffering a sharp decline in purchasing power. You must respond to this with general wage increases rather than what is felt to be a provocation!
« Doing more in less time »: The ideal recipe for accidents and burnout!
You are attempting to make employees « responsible » for the lack of results in the first quarter. Yet, it is you who, year after year, subjects them to cost-reduction plans that put the entire company and the supply chain under strain. Your strategic choices regarding outsourcing and just-in-time manufacturing disrupt work operations. Employees are not responsible for engine shortages or defects on A320 panels. Asking employees to run faster to make up for the failures of an organization focused solely on cost cutting is a direct threat to their health and safety at work.
Brutal rollback on remote work: Trust hits rock bottom!
Your unilateral decision to mandate four days of on-site presence has sparked a entirely legitimate anger. Many employees organized their lives around this right, and some will find themselves in untenable situations. Contrary to your assertions, the right to two days of remote work is not a hindrance to « collective creativity. » On the contrary, removing a day of remote work denies employees’ ability to organize themselves collectively according to circumstances, cooperation needs, and individual necessities.
You speak to us of « technological disruption. » We demand that these disruptions serve social progress. Rather than this outdated presenteeism, the CGT champions another ambition: the reduction of working hours with a 32-hour, 4-day workweek for everyone (both on-site and remote) paid at the 35-hour rate, backed by massive hiring! With an 11-year order book and record profits year after year, this is entirely possible at Airbus.
Absenteeism: Have you become a doctor?
You denounce excessive absenteeism in certain sectors, implying that employees are taking unfair advantage, and you call on teams to pressure their colleagues under the pretext that « the absence of some imposes an unfair burden on others. » Absenteeism at Airbus is the direct result of deteriorating working conditions, chronic understaffing, and the pressure of production rates. It is not the absence of some that overburdens others; it is the lack of hiring!
Rather than guilt-tripping sick employees and dividing teams, you should address the root causes: workload overload, limitless overtime, 6-day workweeks, and stagnant wages.
« Quality Moonshot »: Quality requires resources, not slogans!
You complain that non-quality makes us « slow and unproductive. » But who controls the budgets, and who dictates the production rates? By squeezing suppliers to cut costs and cutting back on training time for new hires or temporary workers, overall quality suffers. Employees spend their time doing, undoing, and redoing. No one at Airbus wants to do poor quality work. In reality, we are prevented from producing quality.
Yes, we are « aerospace and defense professionals, » and we know that quality cannot be established by decree. It is achieved through massive investments in production tools, through the recognition of qualifications, and by allowing the necessary time for each task.
« Focus »: The future in jeopardy!
« The world is incredibly complex and constantly changing. » You could have added that the world faces challenges like global warming, which urgently requires us to prepare for the future. But for you, the future can apparently wait, because « a good idea that is not aligned with our priorities is actually a bad idea. » We understand clearly that for you, anything that does not serve immediate production, short-term aircraft delivery, or the « requirements of modern warfare » must be stopped.
This rhetoric is anxiety-inducing, guilt-tripping, and irresponsible! It ignores the historic challenges facing aviation, starting with decarbonization and the ecological transition. Should we expect abrupt halts to research projects and preparation for the future, as teams have already painfully experienced with the heavy cuts to the ZeroE program? These are precisely the directions forced upon the automotive industry by its leaders over the past twenty years, which led an entire sector into a dead end.
A « priority » that prevents the emergence of good ideas, blocks preparation for the future, and refuses to preserve our industrial and environmental future is, in reality, a VERY BAD priority. Airbus cannot survive solely on past achievements by squeezing current production lines ever further.
For the CGT, preparing for the future is an urgent matter: this requires securing funding for research and development, not a headlong rush into a war economy. Rather than militarizing our industrial infrastructure, the company must invest massively in civil diversification and support programs that will guarantee our jobs for tomorrow.
Airbus’s success is indeed not a matter of chance!
It relies entirely on the know-how and daily commitment of its employees.
If management wants a « Team Airbus at its best, » this requires improving our working conditions instead of degrading them, and it requires better wage policies.
The CGT demands:
- A reduction in working hours for all rather than a reduction in remote work;
- A massive and sustainable hiring plan to alleviate the workload;
- The immediate opening of salary negotiations with general increases for all at least in line with inflation, and career progression increases at least 1.8% above inflation.
« Team Airbus » expects management to start by respecting them and paying them decently.
The CGT Coordination of the Airbus Group
Banner picture (modified) : Scott Graham