Spirit AeroSystems will lay off 2,800 workers after Boeing 737 Max halt
BY CHANCE SWAIM
JANUARY 10, 2020 09:48 AM
Wichita’s largest employer, Spirit AeroSystems, announced Friday that it will lay off 2,800 workers due to uncertainty about production of the Boeing 737 Max. ... All 2,800 employees work in Wichita. The layoffs will be followed by further cuts later this month at the company’s Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma, locations, according to a news release sent out by the company.
Spirit may shed more jobs in the future, the news release said. The 2,800 workers represent more than a fifth of the company’s Wichita work force, according to the Greater Wichita Area Partnership’s most recent numbers. ... Hourly workers will start leaving the company Jan. 22 followed by salaried employees, who start leaving the company Feb. 7. All employees will receive compensation for the full 60-day notice period, according to a letter Spirit’s CEO sent to employees Friday.
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SPIRIT’S SUCCESS TIED TO THE 737
Spirit’s economic success has been tied to that of Boeing — and the 737 — since the company formed as a spin-off of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ... More than half of Spirit’s revenue comes from the production of 737 aircraft components. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide in March after a pair of deadly crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people.
Before the 737 Max was grounded, Spirit was in the midst of an economic boom. In the past two years, the company has announced plans to add thousands of jobs and invest $1 billion in its Wichita factory. ... In return, Wichita and Sedgwick County agreed to pay $14.5 million for a building at Spirit’s factory on South Oliver. The state of Kansas pitched in $23.5 million and agreed to allow the company to keep 95 percent of its new workers’ state income taxes for up to 10 years. To fill those jobs, area organizations and universities have placed an increased focus on jobs training and scholarships.
The company planned to increase monthly production of the jets from 52 to 57 as early as June of this year. But that plan was taken off course by the 737 Max crashes. ... After the crashes, Boeing reduced its production to 42 of the jets a month. But Spirit continued building 52 fuselages a month in anticipation of a quick fix. ... That fix hasn’t happened.
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