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Bring production back under Boeing’s direct control by limiting outsourcing. This is one of the strategic lines that the new management is trying to initiate and which inevitably involves regaining control of one of its main suppliers, Spirit Aerosystems which supplies parts for the Boeing 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliners.
Among Spirit’s customers there is also the long-time competitor Airbus to which the American company supplies parts of the A220 and A350 and represents a fifth of Spirit’s turnover: a change of ownership will require coordination between the two manufacturers to divide activities through a framework agreement that is currently being discussed, as published by Reuters.
If successful, any deal involving the two aerospace giants would end Boeing’s 20-year effort to outsource key elements of its manufacturing process to resolve a crisis that emerged in the aftermath of the Alaska Airlines crash last January after the explosion of a door on a 737 MAX.
It is rare for Airbus and Boeing to collaborate directly, except on environmental or safety issues, and it is unclear whether they have met face to face so far. Spirit’s flagship plant in Wichita, Kansas, is responsible for supplying parts for the 737 MAX and 787s. As such it will go to Boeing, regardless of the outcome of the discussions. Airbus, however, is interested in the Kinston composite material factory in North Carolina, which takes care of the center section of the A350 and the wing factory for the A220 coming out of the factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The European manufacturer. initially reluctant to participate in the talks, she was apparently convinced to avoid Boeing coming into possession of the planning and costs of the A350, or otherwise depriving it of important resources. Spirit, with a market value of almost $4 billion, has already held exploratory talks with Toulouse over the sale of its loss-making Belfast plant.