Print edition: 
Though the Machinists' contract with Spirit AeroSystems doesn't expire until late June, both sides have been visiting with each other and say — for now — that they will approach negotiations in a more cooperative, less adversarial way.
They say they will do so because of broader concerns about the American aviation industry's future.
That's according to officials at Spirit and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
A letter from the Machinists to members of its Local Lodge 839 said its negotiating committee met last week with IAM president Tom Buffenbarger, Spirit CEO Jeff Turner and Sam Marnick, Spirit's vice president for labor relations.
The letter — which was circulated Thursday in a memo from Turner to Spirit executives and managers — said the main discussion was about the industry's future.
"It is time to move beyond the old ways of bargaining that have been used since the 1930s.... We must find ways to move forward where both the company and the workers benefit together, neither one profiting at the expense of the other in adversarial roles," Buffenbarger said in the letter.
The letter also said that the Machinists and Spirit are "exploring a completely new collective bargaining model."
A message left Thursday for Machinists District 70 president Steven Rooney was not returned.
A Spirit official said it's not necessarily a change in the model, rather a philosophical shift in the way both sides approach contract negotiations.
"They are talking about a paradigm shift, about how we work together," said Spirit spokeswoman Debbie Gann.
The letter said that both sides have a "mutual interest in making sure Wichita is the Air Capital of the Nation for years to come."
"We must organize and work to save and grow jobs in America, instead of in China and Mexico," the letter said. "We've lost too many jobs to runaway companies. While we still can, we must save the aerospace industry."
Turner, in his memo, said that the cooperation both sides are seeking is about keeping "this company healthy and keep(ing) our team for the future intact.
"We are true partners with the IAM in achieving these goals."
