FILE PHOTO: Airplane fuselages bound for Boeing’s 737 Max production facility sit in storage at their top supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, in Wichita, Kansas, U.S. December 17, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo
March 24, 2020
(Reuters) – Spirit Aerosystems <SPR.N>, Boeing Co’s largest supplier, is temporarily suspending production for the airplane maker at many of its facilities in the United States, as the global coronavirus pandemic saps demand across the industry.
The company said on Tuesday it would suspend production beginning March 25 until April 8, including at its main Wichita, Kansas facility, a day after Boeing <BA.N> halted production at its Washington state twin-aisle jetliner factory.
The deadly coronavirus outbreak has spread to almost all countries of the world, prompting large-scale lockdowns and virtually wiping out air travel demand.
Boeing’s airline customers have deferred taking new aircraft and making pre-delivery downpayments, compounding its troubles related to the grounding of its once fast-selling 737 MAX jet after fatal crashes. Boeing halted 737 production in January.
Spirit said it would continue to pay employees who are sent home during the two-week period due to the suspension of Boeing work.
Spirit will, however, continue to support 787 work for Boeing’s Charleston, South Carolina, facility.
(Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
