Boeing takes full control in Northern Ireland: what does it mean for the future of U.S. aviation?
The aircraft manufacturer has struck a deal that could see it share the Belfast plant with Airbus.
Boeing is preparing to take over the non-Airbus part of Spirit AeroSystems’ factory in Belfast in the north of Ireland, after efforts to sell off parts of the plant were unsuccessful. The deal comes as part of its $4.7 billion reacquisition of Spirit last year and is part of Boeing’s bigger plan to have better control over quality and production.
“If a suitable third-party buyer is not secured for the remainder of the Belfast site, the A220 mid-fuselage program transfers to Airbus, with the remaining Belfast operations transferring to Boeing,” a spokesperson said.
This would mean Boeing would end up sharing the Belfast plant with Airbus.
FlyingMag reports that in order to avoid a situation where Boeing would take over factories making airframes and components for Airbus, its main rival, “the company agreed that Airbus would have the opportunity to purchase Spirit sites supporting the A220 and A350 programs”. Such a deal was struck in April, “when Airbus said it would acquire Spirit assets in Kansas, where Spirit has its corporate headquarters, as well as North Carolina, France, Morocco, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.”
Spirit are reportedly set to sell due to financial difficulties arising from increased production costs, strikes, and changes to targets after the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Boeing’s part, and for the wider US aviation question, it suggested that its reacquisition of Spirit “will help it impose uniform safety and quality standards across its production lines“, with the British Broadcasting Company adding that ”wants to bring Spirit back in house as part of its efforts to tackle manufacturing problems."
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