As Boeing faces industry wide criticism, huge Regulatory scrutiny, and a reputational crisis after a door plug blew out of one of its 737 Max aircraft mid-flight, Airbus says it's 'not happy' about issues at rival Boeing:
"I think it's not helpful for the industry, and if it's not helpful for the industry, it's not helpful for Airbus," Airbus CFO Thomas Toepfer told CNBC in an interview.
To streamline its business and improve the inhouse process, Boeing is now exploring a potential acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems. Owing to this development, discussions are underway regarding the future of Spirit's ties to Airbus, that may again mess up Boeing's strategic plans.
Airbus may consider buying some Spirit AeroSystems assets if Boeing were to buy the aircraft parts supplier, according to the European airplane maker's chief financial officer.
The comments after Boeing and Airbus earlier this month confirmed that they were in preliminary acquisition talks, following several media reports about a possible deal earlier in the day.
Earlier, Spirit has held exploratory talks with Airbus about selling its Belfast, Northern Ireland plant. Boeing is reportedly not keen on owning Spirit's Airbus business, which includes the factory.
In October 2019, aircraft manufacturer Bombardier's Northern Ireland operations was been sold to US firm Spirit AeroSystems. Bombardier sold its aerostructures business, which included this Belfast plant, to Spirit for more than $700m in cash and debt.
Airbus CFO Thomas Toepfer told in the interview on Friday,
"In light of the situation today where Boeing has potentially the interest to take over Spirit, we could also imagine that some of the work packages could find their way to Airbus and we take them over, but that quite frankly is a discussion that's in the very very early stages and it's way too early to comment on that."
Spirit (SPR) manufactures the wings for the Airbus A220 aircraft and also a section for the A350 model, Toepfer explained.
In this context, Boeing's defensive strategy extends to potential concerns from European regulators regarding Airbus's reliance on a major competitor for critical components in its supply chain.
The exclusive nature of these components, customised using proprietary design and technology, raises questions about the feasibility and implications of such dependencies, as they can affect the Airbus aircraft production to a larger extent.
While Airbus's options to stop the sale of Spirit to Boeing are limited, the plane manufacturer holds considerable lobbying power and may explore avenues to influence the outcome of negotiations.
Spirit's backlog, including projects for both Airbus and Boeing, stands at approximately $49 billion, indicating the magnitude of its operations across various commercial platforms.
Worth noting here, the Airbus-related business constituted a significant portion of Spirit Aero's revenue in 2023, accounting for approximately a fifth of its total earnings.
Photo credit : Spirit AeroSystems
