Airbus has decided to pause commercial aircraft production and assembly activity at its German sites in Bremen and Stade and its U.S. A220/A320 manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama, the company announced Monday. Airbus said the actions come in response to several factors related to the Covid-19 pandemic including high inventory levels at the sites and the various government recommendations and requirements that affect flow at different stages of production.

The company will suspend commercial aircraft production operations in Bremen from April 6 to April 27, while “key” business support services continue at the site. In Stade, Airbus will pause production and assembly from April 5 to April 11, after which time selected departments will remain idle on certain days for several weeks. Key business support services will also remain active at that site. 

In Mobile, the pause in production begins this week and will last until April 29. Certain activities will continue on-site, including building and installation maintenance, aircraft maintenance, some critical product-safety and customer-driven operations, receipt and control of materials and components, critical administrative support, and preparation for activity restart, said Airbus. 

During the past two weeks, Airbus paused production and assembly work in France and Spain for four days to implement required health and safety measures. Production and assembly in France have resumed gradually since March 23. Commercial aircraft wing production operations in the UK and commercial aircraft production activities in Spain and Canada remain suspended due to government restrictions and what Airbus characterizes as high stock levels.

“Airbus is supporting efforts globally to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and has carried out extensive work in coordination with social partners to ensure the health and safety of its employees,” the company said in a statement. “This has been achieved by implementing stringent health and safety measures, while securing business continuity across the company.”

The Airbus moves follow a similar pause in production activities at Boeing, which on Sunday indefinitely extended a work stoppage at its plants in the Puget Sound area and Moses Lake, Washington. A limited number of employees continue to work at those sites to perform “essential” national defense and customer support functions.