Paris ? Airbus, steadily losing its market lead to Boeing Co., unveiled drastic plans Wednesday to follow in its U.S. rival’s footsteps by cutting thousands of jobs, selling off manufacturing sites and outsourcing more work to external suppliers.

Strikes and protests greeted the European planemaker’s long-awaited announcement that it intends to shed 10,000 staff and sell, close or spin off six plants, as it struggles to survive the crippling fallout from a two-year delay to its A380 superjumbo and the weaker U.S. dollar.

“We are doing what other companies have done, but we’re a bit late,” Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois said as he presented the “Power8” restructuring strategy to reporters.

Airbus will sell off or shut down its French Saint-Nazaire-Ville plant and two German sites – Varel and Laupheim – as the company increasingly outsources “non-core” parts, Gallois said. Together, the three facilities currently employ over 3,000 workers.