1 week Ago By Rytis Beresnevičius
Airbus has signed a definitive agreement with Spirit AeroSystems, paving the way for the European plane maker to take ownership of up to six sites and acquire the wing production facility in Prestwick, Scotland. The company stated that the agreement aims to ensure the stability of its supply chain, ensuring a more sustainable operational and financial future as it ramps up the production rates of its key commercial aircraft programs in the next few years. Definitive Agreement With Spirit AeroSystems On April 28, Airbus announced that it had signed a definitive agreement with Spirit AeroSystems for the European plane maker to take ownership and buy industrial assets related to its commercial aircraft programs.
Subject to last-minute changes, the United States-based aerospace company will pay $439 million to Airbus for the latter to take ownership of the following sites: Kinston, North Carolina, where Airbus A350 fuselage sections are built St. Nazaire, France, where A350 fuselage sections are built Casablanca, Morocco, where A220 and A321 components are built Wichita, Kansas, where the A220 pylons are built Belfast, Northern Ireland, where the A220 wings are built Airbus will also potentially take ownership of the part of the Belfast, Northern Ireland site where the A220’s mid-fuselage is assembled, unless Spirit AeroSystems finds a suitable buyer for the location. In addition, Airbus will acquire the Prestwick, Scotland site, where wing components for the A320 and A350 aircraft families are built.
Supply Chain Stability According to the European aircraft manufacturer, the deal aims to ensure the stability of its commercial aircraft supply chain through operational and financial sustainability in the near future for its key aircraft work packages. Airbus added that the transaction should be completed sometime in Q3, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. However, the plane maker has also entered into a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Spirit AeroSystems, with Airbus providing the supplier a non-interest-bearing credit line of $200 million, which the US-based company will use to support the aircraft manufacturer’s programs.
Spirit AeroSystems’ annual report depicted that in 2024, its revenues from Airbus and Boeing accounted for 27% and 66% of its total revenues, respectively, with its other customers being Bombardier, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Rolls-Royce. Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems announced their intentions to merge on July 1, 2024, with the former (re)acquiring the latter in an all-stock deal worth around $4.7 billion ($8.
3 billion including debt). Boeing spun off and sold the Wichita, Kansas, Tulsa, and McAlester, Oklahoma, production sites in February 2005 for around $900 million in cash in a deal with Canada-based Onex. In 2006, Spirit AeroSystems became a public company following an initial public offering (IPO).
Boeing is in the final stages of acquiring its once-owned sites in Wichita, Kansas, which have been operating as Spirit AeroSystems. Door Plug Ordeal The move to reacquire Spirit AeroSystems was made following the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug blowout in January 2024, when the then-three-month-old aircraft, flying from Portland International Airport (PDX) to Ontario International Airport (ONT) on flight AS1282, had to return to Portland after the door plug, which was lifted up during the aircraft’s assembly process and reinstalled incorrectly, departed the fuselage. While thankfully, nobody passed away as a result of the incident, with the door plug landing in the backyard of an Oregonian teacher, the event has resulted in significant scrutiny of Boeing by lawmakers and authorities, including its production processes.
In response, the aircraft manufacturer has taken steps in an attempt to improve the quality of its production , including the 737 MAX, not only to regain trust but also to prove to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that it can build more than 38 737 MAX aircraft per month. The incident also resulted in Boeing's previous President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Calhoun, resigning from his position . According to comments made during the Bank of America Industrials conference on March 19 by Brian West, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Boeing, the merger should be completed sometime this summer, perhaps in the middle of the year.
The CFO promised that the two companies, once fully integrated, would work on “enhanced safety, quality, stability,” with signs already showing progress in those areas..
