Boeing to take back control of Spirit AeroSystems, Airbus operations carved out to save 3,000 UK jobs
December 8, 2025
In a deal which is expected to be announced on Monday, 8 December, Spirit AeroSystems will cease to exist as an independent supplier to the global aircraft manufacturing industry.
Instead, the company will revert to sitting under the control of the previous owner, Boeing, but with a significant portion of the business being carved out in favour of arch-rival Airbus.
Boeing brings Spirit AeroSystems back in-house
Coming at the end of an 18-month process led by Boeing to regain control of Spirit AeroSystems, the company is expected to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on the morning of 8 December as the final elements of the agreement with Boeing are put into place.
Spirit AeroSystems was originally a wholly-owned division of Boeing before being spun off in 2005.
Boeing recently confirmed that it expects to complete its Spirit AeroSystems acquisition by the end of 2025, after receiving approval from the US Federal Trade Commission.
The relationship between the two companies, having become increasingly fractious over recent years due to production delays, eventually broke down in 2024 following the Alaska Air Boeing 737 MAX 9 incident in which an emergency exit plug door blew out from a three-week-old aircraft at 14,800ft. Spirit AeroSystems produced the aircraft’s fuselage.
With allegations of quality control issues at Spirit rife, Boeing subsequently decided to bring the Spirit Airlines operation back in-house, providing the US planemaker greater control over its entire manufacturing chain.
With that process all but complete, an announcement is expected imminently that Spirit AeroSystems is no more, with Boeing taking back full control of both the company and its operations.
An Airbus carve-out is planned for some Spirit operations
However, this has presented Boeing executives with an issue. Almost 3,000 Spirit AeroSystems employees are not engaged in tasks related to Boeing products at all, but rather in building components for Airbus commercial aircraft.
However, as reported by Business Matters, a side deal has been agreed under the terms of the agreement whereby Airbus will take over these operations itself, ending a period of uncertainty for Spirit AeroSystems workers in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Prestwick in Scotland.
The deal will not only secure these jobs but will also guarantee continuity for specific Airbus programmes, while also likely to satisfy the relevant competition authorities in the countries affected.
Both sites affected by the carve-out have deep-rooted histories in the UK aviation sector. Spirit acquired the Belfast site through its acquisition of Bombardier in October 2020.
The site specialises in the production of wings for the short-haul Airbus A220 and was originally part of the Short Brothers factory, which began building flying boats in the 1930s.
Meanwhile, the Prestwick site was originally part of British Aerospace and first became involved in the Airbus manufacturing process through the two companies’ tie-up in the 1970s. The site specialises in the manufacture of leading and trailing wing-edge components for both the A320 and A350 aircraft types.
The deal will secure thousands of Spirit jobs
The deal between Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing will secure the jobs for Spirit’s UK employees, who had feared for their jobs had Boeing taken the whole of Spirit AeroSystems back under its control.
Both UK sites have been operating under short-term agreements while Airbus and Boeing worked to unravel an agreement that allowed Spirit to supply both Airbus and Boeing production lines simultaneously.
Under the terms of the carveout, Airbus will take on approximately 1,550 staff at the Belfast site and around 1,200 at the Prestwick plant. It is believed that Boeing could retain the Belfast employees not engaged on the Airbus A220 programme, which could equate to around 2,000 employees in total.
Outside of the UK, other Spirit AeroSystems plants that will be taken over by Airbus as part of the carve-out from Boeing include facilities in St. Nazaire in France and Casablanca in Morocco. This is in addition to the main sites in the US, including Kinston in North Carolina and Wichita in Kansas.
Airbus to be paid compensation for loss-making plants
According to Simple Flying, by way of compensation for Airbus assuming financial responsibility for assuming control of its loss-making operations in Belfast and Prestwick, Spirit AeroSystems will pay Airbus an amount of $439 million as compensation. Notably, the Belfast site alone recorded a $670 million loss in 2024, prompting concern for its future viability.
It is understood that Airbus has also agreed to provide Spirit AeroSystems with non-interest-bearing lines of credit of $200 million. This amount will be used to shore up Spirit’s Airbus programs during the intervening period. The entire deal remains subject to regulatory approval.
Airbus retains Spirit staff for global expansion plans
In the meantime, with the deal secured that will ensure the longevity of the Belfast plant, planning activity has already commenced for the expansion of the wing assembly plant as Airbus gears up A220 production to meet growing global demand for the single-aisle jet.
Just last week, Argentinian low-cost carrier Flybondi ordered 15 of the type, becoming the first operator of the A220 in Latin America.
Once Spirit’s UK workforce transfers to being under the Airbus umbrella, the European manufacturer’s total UK workforce will increase to around 14,000 employees across the commercial, defence, and space sectors.
In addition to the Belfast and Prestwick plants, Airbus also maintains a strong UK presence in both Chester and Bristol, where key components such as wing sections are produced for the rest of the Airbus family of aircraft.
Featured image: Spirit AeroSystems
