Boeing and Airbus aside, huge uncertainty hangs over the rest of Spirit AeroSystems

Supplier’s work for major business aviation OEMs remains in flux as deal with Boeing and Airbus unveiled

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Release Date
July 2, 2024
Boeing and airbus aside, huge uncertainty hangs over the rest of Spirit AeroSystems
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The acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems by Boeing and a series of impending – and contingent – factory divestments to Airbus may answer key questions about the future of the supply chain for the dupoly’s jetliner programs. But, the enormity of the pair often obscures the aerostructures provider’s reach across a host of other industry sectors on programs that now face significant uncertainty about their futures.

Boeing and Spirit in their announcement went to great lengths to emphasize “continuity” for U.S. defense programs that count Spirit as a supplier. The aerostructures company is a major partner on Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Raider strategic bomber, Bell’s V-280 Valor tiltrotor and the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter.

Related: Boeing agrees to acquire Spirit AeroSystems in $8.3 billion strategic reversal

“As part of the transaction, Boeing will work with Spirit to ensure the continuity of operations supporting Spirit’s customers and programs it acquires, including working with the U.S. Department of Defense and Spirit defense customers regarding defense and security missions,” Boeing said in its statement announcing the deal. The rotorcraft and bomber programs are virtually certain to join Boeing’s stable of defense work when the deal is expected to close in mid-2025, according to industry officials.

Yet, the $8.3 billion deal designed to secure Boeing’s industrial stability is creating shockwaves that could impact programs in other industry sectors, notably business aviation. While Spirit’s work for Boeing and Airbus captures most of the public’s attention, the company is also the largest supplier to Bombardier, and a key provider to Gulfstream, Dassault and Honda Aircraft.

Related: Inside the strained union of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems

Spirit AeroSystems is going away, but is there clarity on where this other work is going? “There’s not any,” an industry official close to the acquisition told The Air Current. The regulatory filings associated with the July 1 agreement offer little insight into what comes next for Spirit’s customers outside of the jetliner duopoly.

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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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Will Guisbond
Will Guisbond is a Staff Reporter at The Air Current, where he is responsible for in-depth coverage on a variety of aviation topics, including airports and infrastructure, as well as general and business aviation. Previously, he worked for two years in public affairs at an electric aerospace company, and prior to that, contributed to eVTOL.com and Vertical Magazine as a reporter covering sustainable aviation and advanced air mobility. An instrument-rated commercial pilot and active aviator, Will is based in Washington, D.C.

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