American aerostructure manufacturing company
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc.
, is an American
aerostructure
manufacturer
. The company, based in
Wichita, Kansas
, builds several important pieces of
Boeing
aircraft
, including the
fuselage
of the
737
and
787
, as well as the
flight deck
section of the fuselage of nearly all Boeing
airliners
. Spirit also produces parts for
Airbus
, including fuselage sections and front wing spars for the
A350
[2]
and the wings for the
A220
.
[3]
Spirit's main competition comes from
Collins Aerospace
,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
,
Leonardo
, and
Triumph Group
.
History
[
edit
]
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
assembly line in Wichita (1944)
Spirit was formed when
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
sold its Wichita division to investment firm
Onex Corporation
in 2005.
Spirit's main Wichita plant was originally founded as
Stearman Aircraft
in 1927 before being acquired by the
United Aircraft and Transport Corporation
(UATC) in 1929. Following the breakup of UATC in 1934, the plant was retained by Boeing and became the Wichita division of the Boeing Airplane Company in 1941. The Wichita division was responsible for the construction of several models of strategic bomber aircraft including the
B-29 Superfortress
,
B-47 Stratojet
, and
B-52 Stratofortress
. During
World War II
, employment peak at the Boeing Wichita division was 29,795 in December 1943.
[4]
From 1957 to 1963, starting with the B-52D variant a total of 467 B-52 aircraft were built in Wichita.
Spirit also includes
North American Aviation
's former
Tulsa
and
McAlester, Oklahoma
facilities.
On January 31, 2006,
BAE Systems
announced it had agreed to sell its aerostructures business, based at
Glasgow Prestwick Airport
and
Samlesbury Aerodrome
, to Spirit.
[5]
The unit is a major supplier to
Airbus
(80%), Boeing (15%) and
Raytheon
(5%). The transaction was completed on April 1, 2006. Spirit paid
£80,000,000
(equivalent to £150,877,479 in 2023) for the business.
[6]
On October 31, 2019, Spirit acquired
Bombardier Aviation
's aerostructures activities and aftermarket services operations in Northern Ireland (
Short Brothers
) and Morocco, and its aerostructures maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Dallas, with the acquisition completing a year later in October 2020.
[7]
The deal gives Spirit a bigger place in Airbus' supply chain, in particular with the wings for the
Airbus A220
that are produced in the Belfast plant.
[8]
In March 2024, Boeing started talks to acquire Spirit AeroSystems. The talks came after years of losses and quality control problems at Spirit. Both Boeing and Spirit faced intense scrutiny after an uncontrolled decompression on
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282
, that was occurred when a door plug (a structure installed to replace an optional emergency exit door) on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which was not bolted in place due to a manufacturing error, blew out.
[9]
In a statement, Boeing said, “We believe that the reintegration of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems’ manufacturing operations would further strengthen aviation safety, improve quality and serve the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders.”
[10]
Business
[
edit
]
In 2010, 96% of Spirit's revenue came from its two largest customers: 85% of sales were from Boeing, 11% from Airbus.
[11]
After planning to take Spirit public,
[12]
at
initial public offering
on November 21, 2006, the firm's stock rose 10% on the first day.
[13]
In November 2006,
Onex
owned 58% of Spirit, which resulted in 92% of
voting power
, as its shares conferred "supervoting" power.
[13]
The chief architect of the Onex purchase of Spirit was
Nigel S. Wright
, who was later Chief of Staff for the Canadian Prime Minister until his resignation as part of an
expense scandal
. In August 2014 the Onex Group sold all of its remaining shares of Spirit. Over the course of the nine-year investment, the Onex Group received aggregate proceeds of approximately $3.2 billion on its initial $375 million investment.
[14]
Products
[
edit
]
The
Boeing 737
fuselage, built at Wichita's Spirit AeroSystems, being shipped to final assembly in the
Seattle, Washington
area.
Spirit's principal products are
metal
and
composite
structural sub-assemblies ("aerostructures") for
Boeing
,
Airbus
, and
Bombardier
airliners
, as well as
business aircraft
(and their military variants).
[15]
[16]
[17]
It also provides various other
aerospace
products and services.
[18]
Spirit's initial and continuing role has primarily been the
manufacture
of the
Boeing
737
fuselage
, and other components. As well as the nose and forward-cabin sections of most Boeing jetliners. The Boeing sub-assemblies are mostly built at Spirit's former Boeing-Wichita factory complex, near its headquarters in
Wichita, Kansas
. Spirit also manufactures major fuselage and/or wing sub-assemblies for current
Airbus
jetliners, mostly in its
Tulsa, Oklahoma
factory.
[15]
[16]
[17]
Spirit also manufactures parts and sub-assemblies for various other aircraft manufacturers at various sites in the
United States
and the
United Kingdom
?including the fuselages of the
Sikorsky CH-53K
heavy-lift helicopter. It also produces or adapts various other defense-related aerospace products for other manufacturers.
[15]
[17]
[18]
Manufacturing facilities
[
edit
]
Glasgow-Prestwick plant (2010)
Saint-Nazaire, France manufacturing plant (2015)
- United States
- United Kingdom
- France
- Malaysia
- Morocco
Incidents and safety concerns
[
edit
]
In December 2023, an employee of Spirit AeroSystems filled out a class action in federal court against the company, alleging that former employees repeatedly warned about safety problems and were told to cover up systematic quality control failures, undercount defects, records falsification and retaliation against employees raising safety concerns.
[19]
On January 5, 2024,
Alaska Airlines Flight 1282
experienced a midair emergency when a door plug blew out causing an uncontrolled decompression of the aircraft.
[20]
The fuselage and door plug are manufactured and initially assembled by Spirit AeroSystems, then shipped by train for final assembly at the
Boeing Renton Factory
.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Spirit AeroSystems Reports 2023 Results"
(PDF)
(Press release). Spirit AeroSystems. February 6, 2024
. Retrieved
February 6,
2024
.
- ^
"Spirit AeroSystems - from cornfields to A350s"
. Flight Global. 2010
. Retrieved
2010-07-18
.
- ^
"Plant tour: Spirit AeroSystems, Belfast, Northern Ireland, U.K."
www.compositesworld.com
. 13 March 2024.
- ^
"Boeing Wichita History"
.
Wings Over Kansas
. November 28, 2004.
Archived
from the original on January 2, 2023.
- ^
"
Onex' Spirit AeroSystems To Acquire BAE Systems Aerostructures
." Official press release.
- ^
"Spirit AeroSystems Completes Purchase of BAE Systems Aerostructures Unit"
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-10-16.
- ^
AeroSystems, Spirit.
"Spirit AeroSystems Completes Acquisition of Select Assets of Bombardier Aerostructures and Aftermarket Services Businesses"
.
Spirit AeroSystems
. Retrieved
2023-01-01
.
- ^
Campbell, John (October 31, 2019).
"Bombardier NI operations sold to US firm"
.
BBC News
.
- ^
Chokshi, Niraj; Ember, Sydney (March 1, 2024).
"Boeing in Talks to Buy Spirit AeroSystems, a Struggling Supplier"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
March 6,
2024
.
- ^
Koenig, David (March 1, 2024).
"Boeing confirms it's in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, its key supplier on the troubled 737 Max"
.
AP News
. Retrieved
March 6,
2024
.
- ^
"
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1364885/000095012311016606/d78727e10vk.htm
- ^
"
Spirit AeroSystems Planning Initial Public Offering
."
The Wall Street Journal
. June 30, 2006.
- ^
a
b
"
UPDATE: Spirit Aero, AerCap Lift Off Post-IPO >SPR AER
."
The Wall Street Journal
. November 21, 2006.
- ^
"Onex Sells Remaining Stake in Spirit AeroSystems - Yahoo Finance"
. 7 August 2014
. Retrieved
2016-02-03
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Proxy Statement Summary,"
April 28, 2021, Spirit AeroSystems, via
Securities and Exchange Commission
, retrieved March 31, 2023
- ^
a
b
"Spirit AeroSystems honoured as composites industry leader,"
November 18, 2021,
Aerospace Manufacturing,
retrieved March 31, 2023
- ^
a
b
c
Booker, Brakkton:
"Spirit AeroSystems, A Major Supplier Of Boeing's 737 Max Jets, Lays Off 2,800 Staff,"
January 10, 2020,
NPR
, retrieved March 31, 2023
- ^
a
b
McCoy, Daniel:
"Spirit partners to grow defense and commercial opportunities in U.K."
March 29, 2023,
Wichita Business Journal,
retrieved March 31, 2023
- ^
"Boeing Supplier Ignored Warnings Of "Excessive Amount Of Defects," Former Employees Allege"
.
The Lever
. 2024-01-09
. Retrieved
2024-01-23
.
- ^
Gates, Dominic
(January 5, 2024).
"Alaska Airlines grounds MAX 9s after door plug blows out on Portland flight"
.
The Seattle Times
.
Archived
from the original on January 7, 2024
. Retrieved
January 6,
2024
.
- ^
Insinna, Valerie; Hepher, Tim; Shepardson, David (January 7, 2024).
"Spirit Aero made blowout part but Boeing has key role"
.
Reuters
.
Archived
from the original on January 7, 2024
. Retrieved
January 7,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]