Airbus offers $200 million credit lifeline to cash-strapped Spirit AeroSystems
May 2, 2025
As the financially struggling Spirit AeroSystems reports yet another quarterly loss ($163 million for Q1 2025), the aerospace supplier is to shore up its delicate liquidity position with $200 million in credit from Airbus. This will be used by Spirit to support Airbus programmes ahead of partial acquisition (and Spirit’s planned merger with Boeing) later this year.
Revenue for Q1 2025 ($1.5 billion) decreased 11% from the same period last year, “primarily due to lower production activity on most Boeing programmes, particularly the Boeing 737,” explained Spirit. This decrease was partially offset by higher production on Airbus programmes. Nevertheless, the supplier ended the quarter with a total backlog of around $48 billion.
Although overall deliveries were up in Q1 2025 (with MAX deliveries notably higher than 2024, a period which saw Boeing in the midst of negotiating FAA-mandated quality control oversight processes), even these did little to improve Spirit’s free cash flow – ending Q1 with a lower liquidity than a year prior. Excess capacity costs also cost the supplier $46 million; significantly higher than Q1 2024’s $26 million.
Despite having “developed a plan designed to improve liquidity” – dependent in part on achieving forecasted 737 deliveries and the outcome of its merger and purchase agreements with Boeing and Airbus respectively – Spirit nevertheless recognises that “there can be no assurance that these plans or strategies will sufficiently improve [its] liquidity needs”. As such, it reiterated its “substantial doubt” (first expressed in November 2024) about its ability to “continue as a going concern”.
On 28 April, Spirit formalised a divestiture agreement that will see Airbus acquire A350 and A320 production elements for a reduced compensation amount of $439 million (a lower figure referencing the potential sale of its Malaysian site to a third party). This acquisition, explained Airbus, aims to “ensure stability of supply for its commercial aircraft programmes through a more sustainable way forward, both operationally and financially”.
A merger agreement was also reached on 30 June with Boeing, which – when completed – will see Spirit become a wholly-owned subsidiary. This transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.
