Spirit AeroSystems will furlough 700 Wichita workers because of ongoing Boeing strike

Spirit AeroSystems will furlough 700 employees in Wichita for 21 days starting Oct. 28, the company said Friday.

The furloughs will affect employees working on the Boeing 767 and 777. The furlough is a result of the ongoing strike by Boeing employees, which started on Sept. 13.

“The Company has built up a significant inventory buffer on the 767 and 777 programs and does not have room for additional storage,” Spirit said in a news release. “If the strike continues beyond November, financial pressures will require the Company to implement additional cost savings measures including layoffs and additional furloughs.”

The furloughs are in “combination with a series of other cost savings measures, including a hiring freeze and travel and overtime restrictions,” the company said.

The workers furloughed are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Spirit is Wichita’s largest employer, with around 9,500 workers, according to the Greater Wichita Partnership. The company makes fuselages for Boeing, which announced in July that it would purchase Spirit, a company it sold in 2005.

Both Boeing and Spirit have been under federal scrutiny since a door blew off the 737-9 Max mid-flight earlier in 2024. Earlier, Boeing’s 737 Max was temporarily grounded after fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019.

There’s additional pressure since roughly 33,000 Boeing workers went on strike.

“This difficult step was necessary given our limited storage capacity for 767 and 777 units,” Spirit CEO Pat Shanahan said in the release. “We recognize the impact this has on our valued teammates and their families, and we are committed to supporting them through this period.”

Shanahan replaced Tom Gentile after he resigned in October 2023.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 11:41 AM.