Union official: Onex interested in Spirit’s fabrication work

Canadian equity firm Onex Corp. is interested in purchasing Spirit AeroSystems’ fabrication work, according to a local Machinists union official.

Frank Molina, Machinists District No. 70 president and directing business representative, said Tuesday that he and union officials met with Onex officials about the firm’s interest in acquiring the work. Molina said he was told there are “multiple bidders” for Spirit’s fabrication work.

“That’s the only company (Onex) that reached out to us at all and is willing to keep the work locally,” he said. “We look forward to sitting down with them in the future.”

An Onex spokeswoman didn’t return calls for comment Tuesday.

A Spirit spokesman on Tuesday referred to a statement the company issued when the Machinists announced earlier this month that Spirit was planning to sell its fabrication work. The statement read in part that it needs more space in its facilities on South Oliver to accommodate an increase in production on several Boeing programs, including the 737 MAX and the 787.

But the statement wouldn’t confirm a pending sale.

Molina said he was told by Onex officials that if the firm was the successful bidder, it would need to build a 1 million-square-foot facility – “approximately 17 football fields long,” he said – in the Wichita area.

“And they would hire all the affected (Machinists) employees,” Molina added.

In the Machinists’ earlier announcement about the sale of Spirit’s fabrication work, it said about 900 of its members would be affected by the sale.

“I actually believe the number is higher,” Molina said, adding that he won’t know an exact figure until later in the sale process.

He said the Machinists union represents 7,200 workers in its Spirit bargaining unit.

Onex is a familiar name in Wichita aviation circles. It acquired the Wichita commercial aircraft division of Boeing in 2005, which later became Spirit following an initial public offering. It sold off the last of its stock in Spirit, now a publicly held company, in August 2014.

Onex also partnered with Goldman Sachs in 2007 to acquire the former Raytheon Aircraft from Raytheon Co., renaming it Hawker Beechcraft. Hawker Beechcraft filed for reorganization bankruptcy in May 2012.

In February 2013 the company emerged from bankruptcy as Beechcraft Corp., with Onex and Goldman Sachs holding a small percentage of equity in the reorganized company. Last March, Textron Inc. completed its acquisition of Beechcraft, which together with Cessna Aircraft became Textron Aviation.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Union official: Onex interested in Spirit’s fabrication work."