Factbox-Spirit Aero's plants in focus as Boeing, Airbus near deal to carve up supplier
(Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus is poised to take over all or part of the operations of four Spirit AeroSystems plants as part of an impending deal involving rival Boeing, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources.
The two main plants involved in the transfer to Airbus are Kinston, North Carolina, where Spirit makes a crucial part of the A350 fuselage known as Section 15, and a plant in Northern Ireland that makes carbon wings for the A220.
Spirit was spun off from Boeing in 2005 and has since become a supplier to Airbus. The European planemaker now accounts for roughly one-fifth of Spirit's revenue, with Boeing making up the majority.
Here are details of Spirit's key plants that supply to commercial and business aircraft programs:
LOCATION COMPONENT MANUFACTURED APPROXIMATE
NUMBER OF
EMPLOYEES
Wichita, USA - Fuselage, pylon, wing leading 12,590
edges, thrust reverser and engine
nacelle of Boeing 737 built in
Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit has
its headquarters. Area spans 150
buildings covering 12.7 mln sq ft.
- Composite forward fuselage and
engine pylons for Boeing 787
Dreamliner also built in Wichita.
Tulsa, USA - Wing fixed leading edge and wing 1,110
movable leading edge for Boeing 787
Dreamliner built in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and Subang, Malaysia.
- Tulsa facility consists of 1.7
mln square feet of building space
set on 147 acres.
Kinston, USA - Central section panels of Airbus 590
A350 built in Kinston, North
Carolina.
Belfast, - Design and manufacture of 3,400
Northern advanced composite wings for Airbus
Ireland A220 commercial jet family.
- Manufacture of center fuselage of
Bombardier Challenger 350 business
jet and Bombardier Challenger 650
business jet.
- Manufacture of forward fuselage
and other components for
Bombardier Global 5500 and 6500
business jets.
- Manufacture of composite
horizontal stabilizer for
Bombardier Global 7500 business
jet.
Casablanca, - Casablanca site assembles 220
Morocco emergency doors for Bombardier
Challenger 350 business jet.
- Assembles floors of Bombardier
Global 5500 and 6500 business jets.
- Casablanca site is set on 7 acres
and totals 312,000 sq ft with
access to Moroccan aeronautical
hub.
Prestwick, - Company builds wing leading and 1,120
Scotland trailing edge elements of all
Airbus A320 family of aircraft at
Prestwick plant.
- Prestwick facility consists of
988,000 sq ft of building space set
on 93 acres.
Saint-Nazaire - After central section panels of 135
, France Airbus A350 are built in Kinston,
they are incorporated into the
fuselage in Saint-Nazaire and
transported to Airbus.
- Saint-Nazaire facility set on 9
acres and totals 75,000 sq ft.
Subang, - Wing fixed leading edge and wing 1,000
Malaysia movable leading edge for Boeing 787
Dreamliner built in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, and Subang, Malaysia.
- The 411,000 sq ft Subang facility
is 34% owned by Spirit and set on
45 leased acres.
Source - Company website, SEC filings
(Compiled by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta)