Boeing announced plans to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion, a move that it says will improve plane quality and safety amid increasing scrutiny by Congress, airlines and the Department of Justice.
Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes. That approach has been criticized as problems at Spirit disrupted production and delivery of popular Boeing jetliners including 737s and 787s.
“We believe this deal is in the best interest of the flying public, our airline customers, the employees of Spirit and Boeing, our shareholders and the country more broadly,” Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement late Sunday.
Yes. Spend more money rather than change anything. That makes sense. They probably should also do a stock buyback again too just to be sure.
This is changing things. Vertical integration of a key supplier isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
And this is sort of like if GM woke up one day and decided to buy back Allison Transmission. Sprit was part of Boeing. It got sold off by bad leadership. Sprit never landed many other contracts past Boeing. Boeing is now buying them back to reintegrate a piece of old Boeing leadership never should have sold.