en.Wedoany.com Reported - U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced it will repurchase its fuselage supplier Spirit AeroSystems for approximately $8.3 billion, ending nearly two decades of outsourced manufacturing. The acquisition follows a flight safety incident in January 2024, when a panel detached from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX fuselage mid-flight—a fuselage produced by Spirit AeroSystems.
Spirit AeroSystems' history dates back to 2005, when Boeing, as part of a cost-cutting and outsourcing strategy, divested its fuselage manufacturing operations in Wichita, Kansas. The newly formed supplier then began supplying fuselages to Boeing. Following the panel detachment incident, Boeing management described the buyback as a move to strengthen safety and quality control, reunifying engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Boeing agreed to repurchase Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion in stock, at $37.25 per share, plus assuming the supplier's debt, bringing the total transaction value to approximately $8.3 billion. The per-share offer represents a roughly 30% premium over the closing price at the end of February.
Since Spirit AeroSystems also manufactures components for European rival Airbus, Airbus participated in the transaction's split. Airbus took over businesses related to its aircraft, including A350 fuselage section plants in Kinston, USA, and Saint-Nazaire, France, as well as A220-related facilities in Northern Ireland and Morocco. In addition to a symbolic fee, Airbus will receive approximately $559 million in compensation.
Market reaction indicated investor approval of the deal. Following the announcement, Spirit AeroSystems' stock rose about 3.6%, Boeing gained nearly 2%, and Airbus climbed roughly 3.3%. Through the transaction, Boeing reclaims its main plants in Wichita and Oklahoma, the very assets divested in 2005. Boeing will now directly assume quality responsibility for every fuselage leaving the factory, ending the era of critical structural components being handled by an external supplier.
