Boeing to reacquire spun-off supplier Spirit AeroSpace to shore up safety Nineteen years and a whole bunch of controversy later, Boeing has decided to reacquire Spirit AeroSystems, maker of parts including the door plug included in select Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. Spirit, which manufactures plane parts like fuselages, wings, and other components for both Boeing and Airbus, is being reacquired for …
From the BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckdglkyqdewo
> Aside from the Belfast operations, Airbus will take control of two Spirit factories in the US, one in France and one in Morocco.
> The Spirit operation at Prestwick in Scotland is not part of the deal and will also be sold separately.
Yes, I read that article as well and it does look as if the non-Airbus parts of the Belfast operation are in serious danger of closing down if no-one wants to take the loss making business over.
So saying that there will be no redundancies may not be right.
The non Boeing non airbus parts of spritit mostly do work for embraer, so it's possible and embraer deal will be in thr pipeline, or that a private partner will be interested in purchasing those parts. Embraer is growing well so I can imagine many investment funds would like a way to get a bit of the action.
>A cynical man might think one of the reasons for the original spin-off was to shelter the parent company from potential liability
That's a bit cynical, there was also union busting, pension fund savings and a bit of financial engineering in the free-money era
More like they cut their boat in half, and started taking on water in both halves. They're going to try putting the pieces back together again - if they do that job correctly it should be able to float like before it was cut. If not it will continue to take on water.
So, what began as a beancounting exercise gets undone in the interests of good engineering. Are Boeing finally getting the message, or are the beancounters just cutting their losses?
But I am sad to see the old Short Bros. operation falling under the Euro monolith. Short's were Britain's first aircraft manufacturing company, and after several corporate moves around the UK they ended up in Belfast. In the big UK consolidation, they were the only significant company to escape absorption into B.Ae, and hence (on the civil side) into Airbus. But then times went bad, Bombardier reached across the Atlantic and moved in, and then Spirit jumped on top. Now, at last, the Borg Cube begins its assimilation. I wonder how long Bombadier's dilithium crystals will last. Ironic really, as Short Bros. aeroplane business began by building American ones - the venerable Wright Flyer - under license, and their bloodline will die with the ending of the final transatlantic contract. (FWIW they began by building coal gas balloons under a railway arch in South London. Nobody makes steampunk like they used to).
@MentourNow has some very interesting analysis of Boeing’s Downfall:
Boeing’s Downfall - Going for the MAX!!
Boeings’s Downfall - “Greed is Good” the McDonnell Douglas Merger
I must admit I had not looked too deeply and until now thought Sprirt = Boeing, and that is the problem. But reading that Spirit also work on/for Airbus, how comes there are no such issues there if the problem lay in Spirit - or this is something only on the other side of the pond ?
Correct but you just got the timescale wrong, the move on happened a few years ago. The art of fucking like this is to exit while you can smell of roses. I'd look at 'retirements' and those 'looking for future challenges' from 4 or 5 years ago if you really want the arch manipulators here.
Yes, well, I'd assumed they'd already done that. IIRC they'd got the most out of the gig before the Dreamliner went into service, which is why the QA problems really started to show. Things were starting to get bumpy before then with the A380 initially stealing the show because Boeing had nothing remotely close for long haul, because R&D had been wound down into designing new logos and catchy slogans…
We should also consider the role of the FAA, especially after the landmark decision of SCOTUS is limiting agencies' rights in rule-setting. No doubt, now that the FAA has woken up, lobbying for lighter regulation, enforced through the courts, will pick up again. Because, as long as you comply with the regulations, you can't be held liable for any damages. Kerching! Make mine a double!
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