Boeing layoffs hit Michoud rocket facility in New Orleans East

Liquid tank domes are constructed for Artemis 3 and 4 flights at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Boeing has begun laying off employees at the Michoud Assembly Facility, with more job cuts potentially on the way, after NASA announced it is delaying the launch of its Artemis II rocket by nearly a year. 

Boeing confirmed that an unspecified number of workers were notified Friday their jobs would be cut at the massive, 43-acre New Orleans East facility. Boeing is the prime contractor there, responsible for making the Space Launch System rockets used in NASA's Artemis program.

"Due to external factors unrelated to our program performance, Boeing is reviewing current staffing and will be adjusting staffing levels on the Space Launch System (SLS) program," the company said in a written statement.

Boeing employs nearly 1,100 workers at several facilities in Louisiana, the majority of whom are based at Michoud. Only a portion of those jobs will be cut, according to a company spokesperson, who said Boeing is working to reassign as many employees as possible in order to minimize job losses.

The Orion capsule's conical adapter is constructed for the Artemis 3 journey at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

The company declined to provide any additional information.

The cuts are not unique to Boeing's operations at Michoud.  Employees at the company's Huntsville, Alabama plant, one of Boeing's largest facilities in the country, were notified Thursday of layoffs. And, earlier this month, more than 1,000 workers assigned to the SLS program were briefed on the pending cuts in an internal company meeting, according to Arstechnica, a technology website.

NASA's Artemis program is designed to returned manned crews to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. The SLS rocket that powered Artemis I was built at Michoud and successfully launched in 2022, traveling 280,000 miles into space without a crew.

Teams at Michoud have been working on SLS rockets for Artemis II and III. But earlier this year, NASA pushed the Artemis II launch date back from November 2024 to September 2025, and the planned 2025 launch of Artemis III to the fall of 2026.

Pictured empty, the Vertical Assembly Center uses a circumferential welding machine to assemble liquid hydrogen tanks and liquid oxygen tanks with the friction stir welding process at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. NASA's first Artemis rocket, which was made in New Orleans, is expected to lift off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 29 without a crew on board. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

"NASA and its industry partners continuously work together to evaluate and align budget, resources, and schedules to execute mission requirements efficiently, safely, and successfully in support of NASA's Moon to Mars goals and objectives," NASA said in a statement.

As of Friday, the Louisiana Workforce Commission had not been notified of the layoffs, a spokesperson said.

The job cuts are a blow to New Orleans East, which has struggled to bring jobs and commerce to the area. Late last year, Gayle Benson's partners in Faubourg Brewing in New Orleans East effectively shuttered local brewing operations at the state-of-the-art facility and are currently auctioning off fixtures and equipment.

NASA's Artemis activity had been one of the bright spots.

District E Council member Oliver Thomas, who had not been personally notified of the layoffs, said he was disappointed.

"I don't like it when Burger King has layoffs," he said. "But this isn't a New Orleans-specific issue. Boeing has a lot of issues and that is going to ripple out around the country."