Furloughed Spirit AeroSystems workers could be put back to work on medical supplies

Furloughed Spirit AeroSystems workers could go back to work sooner than expected, but they won’t be making airplanes.

Instead, Spirit is planning to fly workers who have volunteered to switch assignments out to California so they can be trained on manufacturing medical devices to aid in the fight against the coronavirus, according to Spirit workers involved in discussions about the training.

The workers could then begin producing medical devices in Wichita once the facilities and infrastructure are in place. But nothing’s set in stone, the workers said.

Keturah Austin, senior manager of corporate communications at Spirit, said the company is looking at “opportunities to lend our industrial capabilities to support the work of health care professionals during this pandemic,” but said the company is not ready to share any details at this time.

“While we are working as quickly possible on these efforts because of the critical need, more work remains for us to determine what is feasible,” Austin said.

One obstacle is logistics, because Spirit’s Wichita facilities are set up to manufacture aircraft, not medical supplies. Getting ready to do that is likely to take time.

But skilled manufacturing workers are available in droves in Wichita.

Thousands of Spirit workers were put on unpaid furlough earlier this week following a decision by Boeing Commercial to suspend production indefinitely at its Washington facilities.

Some of those workers, who asked not to be identified, said management has asked furloughed employees if they would be willing to be trained and transition to medical supplies if the opportunity arose in the coming weeks.

Spirit, Wichita’s largest employer, is one of Boeing’s largest suppliers. A majority of the company’s work depends on Boeing, whose commercial sector was already in trouble — due to the 737 Max — before the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on the entire airlines industry.

In January, Spirit announced it was laying off 2,800 workers in Wichita, more than 20% of its workforce due to uncertainty surrounding the future of the Boeing 737 Max. The once-best-selling plane has been grounded worldwide for more than a year after two crashes killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Airlines and other customers have canceled and moved back orders on the Boeing plane for months since the crashes. Spirit makes about 70% of the 737 Max and planned to slowly begin producing the planes again this spring.

Then the coronavirus hit. More Boeing orders were canceled. And the future is hazy until the coronavirus is under control.

Spirit’s exploration into the medical supply chain follows calls from Wichita’s machinists union to stop building planes and start making medical supplies. As the number of COVID-19 cases has surged across the nation, so has the need for medical supplies such as ventilators and masks.

Companies such as Ford, 3M and GE Healthcare have been retooling and ramping up production of the equipment. But there’s still a critical shortage in states like Kansas.

Austin said Spirit will provide more information about its plans when they’re finalized.

“We want to make sure we do this right so that we are certain we can deliver the medical devices and PPE that thousands of medical professionals currently require,” she said. “We are grateful to the health care workers who are on the front lines of this crisis every day. It’s a privilege to have an opportunity to do what we can to help these heroes and those suffering with COVID-19.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 9:58 AM.