A major Boeing supplier is to make up to 450 workers redundant after its biggest customer was forced to cut aeroplane production.
Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures fuselages for Boeing, faces mounting losses after the mid-flight blowout of a plug door on a Boeing 737 Max plane in January sparked safety concerns and attracted massive regulator scrutiny.
The company sent a memo on Thursday to staff at its main plant in Wichita, Kansas, saying that a redundancy process was coming. The memo was first reported by KSN TV.
“The recent slowdown in the delivery rate on commercial programmes compels a reduction to our workforce in Wichita,” a company spokesman told Reuters. “In the coming weeks, we will inform affected employees. We are committed to implementing this transition in as compassionate a manner as possible.”
Spirit had already begun to limit overtime and hiring as production declines due to lower output of 737 Max jets.
A week ago, Spirit announced that losses had more than doubled in the first quarter of 2024, compared with a year earlier, to $617m (£487m) as orders from Boeing slowed and the company was weighed down by the costs of investigating the January incident.
It burned through $444m in cash during the quarter, but Boeing has subsequently agreed to pay it $425m in cash advances, in a move to shore up its finances.
Spirit confirmed in March that it was “currently engaged in discussions” with Boeing about being taken over. The fuselage maker had previously been part of Boeing until a 2005 sell-off.
In addition to financial pressures, Spirit faces scrutiny from regulator investigations alongside Boeing following the January incident.
In February, Boeing said Spirit AeroSystems had discovered mis-drilled holes on some fuselages, affecting the window frames on some planes. Spirit said it was working closely with Boeing on the matter.
Spirit AeroSystems shares rose 1.6pc in trading on Thursday.
Boeing declined to comment. Spirit was approached for comment.