Only time will tell if the 4,000 jobs Boeing plans to cut by June will be enough to keep the company afloat “for the long term to win in the market,” Teal Group Vice President Richard Aboulafia told Seattle’s Morning News.

“I guess we’ll see,” he said.

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It’s hard to believe the company plans to cut so many jobs, especially with the upward production rates that Boeing expects. KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross asked how the company will produce more planes with fewer people. Is there some new robotic procedure being adopted on the assembly line?

That may be one explanation, Aboulafia said, laughing. More likely, however, is the company doesn’t actually plan to cut those jobs or the production rates aren’t for the short term.

“It’s possible that the kinds of production increases they’re talking about are just in the long term and that maybe the next few years will be more stable than they’ve implied,” Aboulafia added. “But that doesn’t reconcile with getting rid of so many people.”

The news of large-scale cuts came down with a story in The Seattle Times. The paper reported that cuts will be through regular attrition and voluntary buyouts for about 1,600 employees. Layoffs, according to the Times, could be an option if there aren’t enough jobs shed through attrition and buyouts.

If the cuts do come to fruition, Dave Ross wonders who is to blame for bleeding the company.

The Times reports that an internal webcast in February blamed Airbus, a European consortium producing a family of passenger aircraft, corporate jet, and military transport. Aboulafia, however, was surprised to hear that. Airbus has been a competitor for years.

Maybe it has to do with Bombardier, a manufacturer of planes and trains based in Canada?