Spirit AeroSystems in parallel strategic talks with Boeing and Airbus

Aerostructures supplier confirms it's also in talks with Airbus about selling A220 wing plant. Airbus gives tacit blessing on Boeing buying back Spirit.

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Industry Strategy
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Release Date
March 1, 2024
Spirit AeroSystems in parallel strategic talks with Boeing and Airbus
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Spirit AeroSystems is in parallel conversations with Boeing and Airbus about its strategic shape, 19 years after it was first divested by the U.S. plane maker in what has been widely considered a massive strategic error by Boeing.

Boeing confirmed Friday that it is in “preliminary discussions about making Spirit AeroSystems a part of Boeing again.” That statement followed reporting by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News that the pair were in talks and Spirit had hired bankers to explore strategic options for the aerostructures supplier that was spun off from Boeing in 2005.

Related: Inside the strained union of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems

While Spirit emphasizes its talks are “preliminary” with both companies, the news, although not wholly unexpected, offers a potential tectonic shift in the strategic supply lines of two of the most important industrial players on Earth.

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Jon Ostrower
Jon Ostrower is Editor-in-chief of The Air Current, where he leads coverage of the global aerospace and aviation industries. Prior to launching TAC in June 2018, Mr. Ostrower served as Aviation Editor for CNN Worldwide, guiding the network’s global coverage of the business and operations of aviation. Mr. Ostrower joined CNN in 2016 following four and a half years at the Wall Street Journal. Based first in Chicago and then in Washington, D.C., he covered Boeing, aviation safety, and the business of global aerospace. Before that, Mr. Ostrower was editor of FlightBlogger for Flightglobal and Flight International Magazine covering the development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and other new aircraft programs from 2007 to 2012. He is also an instructor at the University of Southern California in the Viterbi School of Engineering's Aviation Safety and Security program. Mr. Ostrower, a Boston native, graduated from The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs with a bachelor’s degree in Political Communication. He is based in Seattle.
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