Boeing has completed its acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems, bringing in house all of Spirit’s Boeing-related commercial work, including 737 fuselages and major structural assemblies for the 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner. The purchase also covers commercially procured fuselages for the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and the KC-46 tanker. By absorbing its largest spare-parts supplier, Boeing strengthens its global maintenance, repair and overhaul capability and expands its rotable, leasing and exchange portfolio through Spirit’s aftermarket operations.
Spirit Defense will continue as an independent supplier to the defence sector, operating as a non-integrated subsidiary of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It will retain its own governance and day-to-day operations while being aligned with Boeing for financial reporting and selected enterprise functions. Boeing has also acquired elements of Spirit’s Belfast operations in Northern Ireland, which will trade as Short Brothers, a Boeing Company. Spirit’s commercial and aftermarket sites in Wichita, Kansas; Dallas, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and its Aerospace Innovation Centre in Prestwick, Scotland, will now begin integration into Boeing, bringing around 15,000 employees into the company.
In a parallel transaction, Airbus has taken ownership of Spirit AeroSystems assets supporting its commercial programmes. The former Spirit sites at Kinston, North Carolina, and Saint-Nazaire, France, both producing A350 fuselage sections, now operate as Airbus Aerosystems Kinston and Airbus Atlantic Cadréan respectively. The Casablanca facility in Morocco, responsible for A321 and A220 components, becomes Airbus Atlantic Maroc Aero. Airbus has also assumed control of A220 wing and mid-fuselage production in Belfast, which now forms Airbus Belfast, while wing-component production for the A320 and A350 in Prestwick is being folded into a new affiliate, Prestwick Aerosystems. Production of A220 pylons will be transferred from Wichita to Airbus’s Saint-Eloi site in Toulouse.
Airbus will receive US$439 million in compensation, subject to standard post-closing adjustments, along with additional amounts to settle liabilities under the purchase agreements.
