Aviation

Emirates Dreamliner jet order could be boost for Spirit Aero

By Jerry Siebenmark
A Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner is parked in front of an Emirates Airline plane during the opening day of the Dubai Air Show, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. The biennial Dubai Air Show opened Sunday with hometown long-haul carrier Emirates making a $15.1 billion buy of American-made Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, as the world's biggest defense companies promoted their weapons amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner is parked in front of an Emirates Airline plane during the opening day of the Dubai Air Show, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. The biennial Dubai Air Show opened Sunday with hometown long-haul carrier Emirates making a $15.1 billion buy of American-made Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, as the world's biggest defense companies promoted their weapons amid heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Kamran Jebreili AP

Spirit AeroSystems’ backlog of work could see a healthy boost should a Middle Eastern airline follow through on an order for as many as 40 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

At Sunday’s opening of the 2017 Dubai Airshow in the United Arab Emirates, Emirates airlines and Boeing announced the order commitment for 40 787-10s, which can carry as many as 350 passengers. At list prices, the order would be valued at $15 billion, Boeing said.

Should Dubai-based Emirates commit to the order, deliveries would begin in 2020.

The announcement came as a surprise to at least one analyst, Seth Seifman of J.P. Morgan, who wrote in an investor note on Monday that Emirates was expected to announce an order for more Airbus A380 super-jumbo jets.

Spirit and a portion of its 10,800 Wichita employees manufacture the composite forward fuselage of the 787 at its south Oliver plant, as well as the plane’s wing leading edges and struts.

Spirit’s backlog at the end of third quarter 2017 was $45 billion.

Jerry Siebenmark: 316-268-6576, @jsiebenmark

This story was originally published November 13, 2017 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Emirates Dreamliner jet order could be boost for Spirit Aero."

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