Up to 560 jobs are to be axed at the Shorts-Bombardier aircraft factory in Belfast, it was announced today.
The company is also making another 1,440 workers redundant in Canada.
The reductions have been blamed on financial difficulties facing some of the firm's customers.
The job losses were announced just hours after the American airline Continental confirmed plans to begin a regular direct service between Belfast and New York.
A spokesman at Shorts, Northern Ireland's single largest manufacturing firm which employs 5,588 workers, said: "We deeply regret the impact this will have on our valued employees and their families."
He added: "It is due to market forces outside of the company's control, following Bombardier's lengthy consultations with airline customers, some of whom face severe financial challenges."
The Belfast jobs will start to go next January.