Why Spirit was late delivering 737 fuselages to Boeing: 'The fact is we missed a load'

For the first time in nearly four years, Spirit AeroSystems was late delivering 737 fuselages to Boeing.

This time, however, it wasn't because the train carrying those fuselages derailed, which was the case in July 2014.

Instead, a number of factors led to the late deliveries last month of major parts of Boeing's best-selling airplane.

That's according to Spirit's chief executive, Tom Gentile.

Supply chain issues, extra quality checks on parts and structures Spirit sends to Boeing and a rising monthly production rate on the 737 were among the reasons for the missed deliveries.

"It's a whole host of things," Gentile said. "I wouldn't just point to one thing."

"But the fact is we missed a load. We don’t miss loads very often, and so we are really redoubling our efforts, working with Boeing very closely so we don’t miss any loads and we get caught back up to their schedule."

Late deliveries can be a big deal.

Any delay in getting 737 fuselages to Boeing's Renton, Wash., assembly plant could make Boeing late delivering finished planes to its airline customers. That could mean financial penalties for Boeing.

Asked whether there are any financial penalties for Spirit, Gentile said, "We don't talk about that."

The delayed shipments could also undermine Boeing's confidence in Spirit.

A substantial part of Spirit's $6.9 billion in revenue comes from Boeing.

'Little bit stressed'

Among the "host of things" that contributed to Spirit's late deliveries were delays in parts coming to Spirit from its suppliers, Gentile said.

"There's challenges up and down the supply chain," he said. "You know, when we have parts, our line operates great. But when some of our suppliers are missing their deliveries to us, it puts pressure on us."

But that's not the only cause.

He said Boeing's move to increase 737 production from 47 airplanes a month to 52 brings a new set of challenges, especially when Spirit's 737 production line includes both the older 737 Next Generation aircraft and the newer 737 Max.

"We're really at the highest rates of production we've ever been," Gentile said. "We're just getting to 52. And so it’s a little bit stressed because you’ve got ... overall rates going up, but you’ve got Max going up and ... the NGs are going down. So there's a lot of moving pieces."

Spirit also has begun to implement more quality checks at the end of the production line as part of its quality improvement.

It's those things that ultimately led to last month's delayed shipment to Boeing, he said.

"We'll be back on track in early June to the master schedule," Gentile said. "The good news is while they (the fuselages) were late, we're going to be able to catch up. So Boeing isn't going to fall behind at all."

A Boeing spokesman said in an e-mail to The Eagle that in this instance, the company has "been able to mitigate things in our factory, and our customer deliveries remain on track."

"We are confident in Spirit’s ability to meet our needs as we increase the 737 production rate later this year," spokesman Doug Alder Jr. said in the e-mail. "This is part of our disciplined approach to planning production increases."

Gentile said the goal for Spirit is to not miss scheduled 737 fuselage deliveries again.

"The first quarter was a bit rocky, but we've put a lot of resources to catch up," he said. "And after the missed load, we put more resources in place so we don't do it again."

This story was originally published April 10, 2018 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Why Spirit was late delivering 737 fuselages to Boeing: 'The fact is we missed a load'."