In a move that should surprise no one, Boeing has reached an agreement to buy back Spirit AeroSystems, one of its key parts suppliers. This had to happen, though only time will tell if this actually improves Boeing’s situation…
Continue reading: Boeing Acquiring Spirit AeroSystems In Bid To Improve Quality
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What goes around, comes around!!
As mentioned in the press release, Airbus and EU and UK have skin in this game and will impede the sale, if necessary, to assure that Airbus operations are not interrupted.
IIRC, the wing assembly for the A220 is in Northern Ireland. Too many well paying jobs in an economically challenged area. I assure you, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government are closely watching the deal.
Rather than selling to Airbus the factory in Great Britain (can't remember if it was in N Ireland or Wales) that makes the A220 fuselage, Boeing should buy the A220 line from Airbus and use it to replace the B737.
Taking over a supplier doesn’t change a single bit of quality. What has Boeing done in the past? Were all the agreed specifications met? It was Boeings job to insure that only parts that meet the specifications are delivered. And they did a terrible job with that…
what's the over/under on months before Boeing lays off nearly everybody from Spirit and keeps the IP
The Belfast Spirit Aerosystems factory produces the wings for the A220, not the fuselage. That factory also currently loses money, so it isn't overly lucrative for Airbus to spend much for it. In fact, Airbus will be doing Boeing a favor financially by taking over the factory. Additionally, Airbus has yet to make a profit from the A220 program. I highly doubt Boeing has any intent to buy the A220 program at this time.
By impeding the sale, you mean Airbus agreeing to buy the wing assembly plant for just under $600 million… Yeah.
The problem for Boeing is Spirit is the only vendor capable of delivering the fuselage. Boeing could either accept the poorly done work or do without the main component of their product. And if Boeing is going to have to direct every aspect of Spirits work because their management is fundamentally incapable of delivering a quality product then it’s easier to just buy it and run it yourself.
Actually Airbus is paying 1$ and getting 559Mln$ from Spirit, so they are getting paid to buy...
Found out that Spirit AeroSystems is also involved in some A350 fuselage and A220 pylon work with facilities in both North America and Europe.
As Kevin noted, Airbus will get all the Airbus operations from Spirit. However, Airbus still wants to hand this work out to other loyal contractors so it can focus on final assembly.
IIRC, Airbus is still losing money on each A220. However, the program acts as a counter to the MAX 7. It may also hurt A320NEO sales, but the money still stays with Airbus which is a partial victor.
This isn't really that kind of acquisition... they still need the things that Spirit builds and they need people to build those things. You can't just hire 1000's of people and pop up fuselage manufacturing sites in Seattle overnight.
They may eventually centralize certain portions of production but I'd be surprised if they moved everything. It's incredibly expensive to relocate manufacturing and hire new labor, train them, etc. There are always layoffs with acquisitions but the entire company? Not happening.