Spirit could see boon with Boeing jet announcement at Paris show

The world’s biggest commercial and military aviation show is set to begin next week in Paris, and analysts are betting it will be a venue for new airplane announcements.

The show will be June 19-25 at Paris-Le Bourget Airport.

Chief among them will be the announcement of a Boeing 737 Max 10 and potentially a new midsize commercial airliner that would serve as a replacement to Boeing’s out-of-production 757.

“We expect significant product buzz at the Paris Air Show,” J.P. Morgan analyst Seth Seifman wrote in a note last week to investors.

New Boeing plane projects could be good news for Spirit AeroSystems, which employs 10,800 people in Wichita and is a supplier to every Boeing jet, including the manufacture of 70 percent of the 737.

Seifman said the show likely will be “short on orders,” but Boeing may use the event to announce production of the Max 10, which would be a stretch version of the Max 9 that completed its maiden flight in April.

Vertical Research analyst Robert Stallard wrote in an investor note Wednesday that “a number of existing MAX customers are likely to be revealed as having signed MOUs (memorandum of understanding), letters of intent, expressions of interest, options and firm orders for the new” Max 10.

Ireland’s Ryanair and Indonesia’s Lion Air are among the current Max customers that could exchange current Max orders on backlog for the larger airplane, Stallard and Seifman wrote.

Including the Max 9, there are three variants of the newest generation 737. The others are the Max 8 and the Max 200.

Boeing said in a news release about its Paris plans that the Max is the fastest-selling airplane in the company’s history, with more than 3,700 orders from 87 customers.

At Paris, Boeing will fly and have on static display a Max 9 as well as a 787-10, the stretch version of its newest twin-aisle jet that first flew in March.

Boeing might also use Paris to advance discussion of a so-called middle market airplane that would fill the gap in terms of range and passengers between its largest 737 and its smallest 787.

“We also expect a focus on the middle market aircraft Boeing may develop for EIS (entry into service) in the mid-2020s – and the Airbus response – but a final decision is not likely this year,” Seifman wrote.

France-based Airbus also plans a big presence at Paris, the company said in a news release, with a heavy emphasis on its new A321neo single-aisle and A350-1000 twin-aisle passenger jets. Those airliners compete directly with Boeing’s 737 and 787, respectively.

Spirit, also a supplier to Airbus, plans to be at the Paris show.

“The Paris Air Show is a great opportunity for us to conduct meetings, make connections, build relationships and formalize agreements with international partners,” Tom Gentile, Spirit president and CEO, said in a release.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Spirit could see boon with Boeing jet announcement at Paris show."