Aircraft parts maker Spirit announces 2,800 layoffs
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 11 months AGO
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Aircraft parts maker Spirit AeroSystems has announced it is laying off 2,800 employees at its Wichita, Kansas, facility due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max.
Employees will be paid for the 60-day notice period. Affected employees will leave the company beginning Jan. 22.
Spirit is a major supplier on the 737 Max program, making about 70% of the airplane's structure including the entire fuselage and other parts.
The Max represents more than half of Spirit's annual income.
"The difficult decision announced today is a necessary step given the uncertainty related to both the timing for resuming 737 production and the overall production levels that can be expected following the production suspension," Spirit AeroSystems CEO Tom Gentile said in a prepared statement.