Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, the former subsidiary that is now the supplier for the fuselages of Boeing’s 737 jets. The move may be part of Boeing’s response to the safety crises that have dogged its most popular line.
Boeing is currently under a 90-day order to come up with a safety and quality improvement plan for its production operations after repeated reports of shoddy work and a recent incident where a door plug or replacement blew out of an Alaska Airlines plane whose fuselage had been built by Spirit, but had undergone additional work by Boeing.
Spirit has gone through a number of years of losses and quality control problems over the past few years, and, like other suppliers, has been under pressure to increase production and control costs.
Boeing sold off Spirit in 2005 as part of a plan to concentrate on final assembly and outsource many parts, especially for its ‘mass production’ 737s. That strategy has now come under scrutiny by regulators who have questioned whether Boeing has taken sufficient care in monitoring its suppliers.
Reacquiring Spirit now might answer at least part of that question, as well as insulate Boeing from the chaos of losing a key supplier if Spirit’s financial conditions worsen. Both companies have acknowledged the negotiations but have so far released no details.
Image: 737 fuselage moving by rail from Wichita to Seattle for final assembly by Dan Bennett/Wikimedia Commons
