Spirit Aerosystems prides itself as a young company which has managed to be where it is by exploiting 90 years of experience in aviation. Spirit AeroSystems have been largely built by years of experience accumulated by some of the world’s top aviation pioneers including Boeing, North American, Stearman, Rockwell, and British Aerospace Corporation.
Spirit’s history in the US began in 1927 when Stearman Aircraft Company was moved by Lloyd Stearman, an aviation pioneer, from California to Wichita in Kansas. After two years, United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, currently Boeing, bought Stearman Aircraft Company. The Wichita produced some of the top range aircraft in the history of Boeing. In 1996, Boeing bought operations of Rockwell International’s located in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma was a production facility for components used in Joint Strike Fighter, 737, and the International Space Station.
Across the Atlantic, Spirit’s history began in the 1930s when David McIntyre, an aviation pioneer, founded Scottish Aviation Ltd in 1935, in Scotland. The site was an important production facility for aircraft used in World War II. The Scottish Aviation Ltd production facility located in Prestwick was to become BAE Systems Aerostructures later.
The establishment of Spirit AeroSystems began in 2005 when Boeing Company sold its Wichita Division based in Oklahoma. Spirit AeroSystems, the new company, started its operations as a single-source supplier and transformed into an independent multinational supplier with not only multiple platforms but also multiple customers. In the following year, the company purchased the Aerostructures division from the BAE Systems including its production facilities in Prestwick, the United Kingdom and the facility then changed its name to Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) Limited. Spirit (Europe) Limited is one of Airbus’ largest suppliers of airframes. It is also a key supplier of major structures of the aircraft wings. Besides producing major wing structures for Airbus, spirit also produces them for Boeing.
Since its establishment, Spirit has continued with its strategic plans to acquire operations of some of the leading companies in the aerospace industry. Following the various acquisitions, the company has been in a position to not only expand its global engineering and manufacturing operations. In 2007, the company opened facilities in Malaysia. In 2009, it opened another facility in France. In the USA, the company opened a facility in North Carolina State in 2007 and another one in Chanute, Kansas State in 2012.
The latest milestone in the Spirit’s business growth is the contract it was awarded to join other subcontractors working on a B-21 program to replace the ageing fleet of B-52 and B-2 bombers. The contract was awarded in 2016 and Spirits, under Northrop Grumman as the main contractor will work together with major players in the aviation industry such as GKN Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, GKN Aerospace, Orbital ATK, Rockwell Collins, and Janicki Industries (Siebenmark). The success of Spirit in the program is part of the company’s expansion plan in the defence sector.
Works cited
Siebenmark, Jerry. Spirit AeroSystems named as a contractor on a new bomber. The Wichita Eagle, 7 March 2016. Web. 18 June 2016.
Spirit AeroSystems. History. Web. 18 June 2016
