WARNER ROBINS — The number of jobs to be cut at Robins Air Force Base could nearly double under a local initiative that targets the 402nd Maintenance Wing.
The base previously had announced plans to cut 600 jobs through voluntary buyouts but now is looking to trim another 540 from the maintenance wing, which employs about 9,000. That could mean up to 1,140 people off the payroll by April.
Though Maj. Gen. Robert McMahon, commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, announced in January that there would be cuts to the maintenance wing, how many wasn’t known until now.
With more than 1,200 people base-wide having applied for buyouts by Sunday’s deadline, involuntary separations won’t be necessary, base spokeswoman Chrissy Miner said Thursday.
The 600 job cuts are part of an Air Force-wide initiative to reduce personnel ranks by 16,500, and the maintenance wing was not included in an initial round of buyouts. The wing is funded through a separate account.
The maintenance wing cuts are a local initiative. Layoffs were a possibility to meet the 600 figure if enough people had not applied, but Miner said even if not enough people apply to meet the 540 target in the maintenance wing, layoffs would not be needed.
She said the 540 figure was reached after a study of the expected workload, which is done each year.
In the first round of buyouts that began last November, 238 people were accepted and were off the payroll by the end of the year. A second round began Jan. 9. The base began making offers Wednesday, and those who accepted must leave by April 30.
For more on this story, come back to macon.com and read Friday's Telegraph.
