SEATTLE - The Boeing Co. announced Friday it will shed as many as 4,500 jobs in its commercial airline division in the coming year.

The reductions follow a year of plunging orders from airlines and come a day after Boeing reported a 15 percent decline in passenger jet deliveries for 2008, when it faced an eight-week strike by union workers.

Most of the reductions are expected to occur in Washington state in the spring, and will affect mostly overhead functions not directly related to airplane production, Boeing officials said.

The company said the cutbacks are part of an effort to ensure competitiveness and control costs in the face of a weakening global economy.

Boeing Co. spokesman Tim Healy said some of the cutbacks will come through attrition and by not filling positions, but that layoffs will be necessary. Altogether, the Boeing commercial airplane workforce will shrink by about 7 percent in the coming year, he said.

Affected employees will receive 60-day notices beginning in late February, and layoffs will begin in April, Healy told KOMO News.

"Certainly we want to get this done as soon as possible, because the overall number that will be impacted will be less, the sooner we get this done," he said.

Boeing will support laid-off employees with layoff benefits and career-transition services, officials said.

"This is a very difficult decision whenever you make these kinds of plans," Healy said. "If you compare this to similar layoffs that Boeing has made in the past, it's significantly less, but that doesn't make it less painful for the people losing their jobs."

Healy said the cutbacks would include some managerial positions.

He said the company could not rule out the possibility of further cuts later in the year.

"We believe this (4,500-job reduction) is what is going to be required of (Boeing Commercial Airplanes) in 2009," Healy said, but he added, "We can't restrict our flexibility to react nimbly to the kind of economic pressures that might emerge."

Industry experts echoed that statement.

"This is likely just the start of it, not just at Boeing but throughout the industry," said Richard Aboulafia, an aviation industry analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group.

"We're heading into a down cycle, and how long it lasts really depends on the broader economy. But looking at the (air) traffic numbers ... it will be a bit worse than usual."

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she is disappointed by news of the Boeing cutbacks.

"The announcement that Boeing plans to lay off part of its work force is sad and disappointing, and yet more evidence of the deepening national recession," Greogire said Friday.

She said the state's Employment Security Department and local rapid response teams will help laid-off Boeing employees file for unemployment insurance and explore other job opportunities.

"Our highest priority is to help those workers find other good jobs as quickly as possible," the governor said.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the Boeing cuts are just more evidence that a recovery plan is needed to help people get back to work.

"Boeing is part of the lifeblood of our region and when Boeing hurts, Washington state hurts," she said.

"We have a lot of work to do to get our economy back on track. ... I look forward to working with President-elect Obama to pass an economic recovery plan that includes help to those who have been laid off and invests in the jobs of the future, like our aerospace industry," Murray added.

Tom Wroblewski, president of the Boeing machinists local, said he expects Boeing to release on-site contract workers before laying off Boeing employees.

"We believe Boeing has many other options available, and we will push them to retain their valued employees," he said. "When Boeing provides exact details on how many IAM members and what job codes are affected, we will issue a more comprehensive statement and present Boeing with additional alternatives to preserve these jobs."

Wroblewski pointed out that Boeing continues to hire production workers. Thirteen new machinists were added to the payroll last week and another 19 new members were added Friday, he said.

But some employees are nervous.

"Some of the people that have been hired last year or so, they are a little worried so, yeah, should be," said Boeing employee Dean Chinn. "But I think people who have been here a few years and over, they are not too worried about it."

Boeing officials said the reduction will bring Boeing Commercial Airplanes' employment to approximately 63,500, similar to the level it was at the start of 2008.

"We are taking prudent actions to make sure Boeing remains well positioned in today's difficult economic environment," said Scott Carson, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"We have made significant strides in recent years to achieve greater efficiency and productivity, but we still face challenges that we must address," Carson said.

"We regret the disruption to those affected by this decision, but we believe that acting now will allow us to be in a financial position to adapt to market uncertainties, meet our customer commitments, continue investing in our current and future product lines, and protect our competitiveness in a fiercely competitive business environment."

Many of the job reductions will be in overhead functions and other areas not directly associated with airplane production, Boeing officials said.

"We are going to focus these reductions on overhead positions not directly related to airplane production," he said. "If you think about the folks who directly produce the airplane. the overhead (positions) are all the supporting jobs around that."

This will enable Boeing to continue focusing on successfully executing new airplane development programs, delivering airplanes to customers, continuously improving productivity and quality, and supporting customer airplanes in the fleet, according to the Boeing statement.