Spirit expanding Malaysia plant, adding 300 jobs

Spirit AeroSystems will expand its Malaysia plant by 50,000 square feet and add 300 jobs, the Wichita-based aircraft supplier announced Wednesday at the Paris Air Show.

The aircraft structures and parts supplier said in a news release that construction on the new building in the Malaysia International Aerospace Centre in Subang — near the capital city of Kuala Lumpur — will begin in October and is expected to be operational in mid-2018.

“We are excited to see our Malaysia site in a strong growth mode as we begin the process of adding capabilities that will allow us to better support the needs of our customers,” Scott McLarty, Spirit vice president and general manager for the United Kingdom and Malaysia, said in the release.

Spirit officials in Wichita declined on Wednesday to detail the work it performs in Malaysia. “We do work for both Boeing and Airbus at our Malaysia facility using expertise in composite and metallic sub-assemblies,” the company said in a statement to The Eagle.

The Eagle previously reported the Malaysia plant manufactured composite subassemblies for part of the Airbus A350 XWB wing and the Boeing 787 composite fixed leading-edge wing component.

Spirit opened the plant in January 2009.

If Spirit adds all 300 jobs, it will increase the plant’s employment to 1,000 people.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Spirit expanding Malaysia plant, adding 300 jobs."