Spirit AeroSystems is planning to furlough more workers at its Wichita, Kansas, facility starting this week, the company said in an email Monday.
The temporary layoffs will impact approximately 300 employees and will last two to three weeks, Spirit AeroSystems spokesperson Joe Buccino said in an email.
The latest round of furloughs adds to last month’s temporary layoffs for 300 workers, which Buccino said Spirit AeroSystems has already completed, as well as the 700 workers furloughed back in October 2024.
Workers at the Wichita plant are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local Lodge 839. Last year, the company and union inked a new four-year contract after a short strike caused a temporary work stoppage at the Wichita plant.
The labor union sent a letter to Wichita worker members as IAM representatives addressed rumors of more furloughs, the Machinist union said in an email Tuesday. The furloughs will “primarily be felt” in the 737 fabrication and composite fabrication departments, as well as some employees in the 737 pylons area, IAM said in the June 5 letter.
“We have raised concerns with the company about the short notice for our members, lack of effective communication, and more,” IAM said in a statement. “In Wichita, we know how integral the aerospace industry is to our entire community. These are family-sustaining careers that our members count on to make a good living.”
Spirit AeroSystems has been having financial difficulties over the past year. Spirit AeroSystems ended 2024 with a $2.14 billion net loss. The company’s first quarter net revenue dropped 11% year over year to $1.5 billion.
The losses were primarily due to production and delivery changes implemented by its largest customer, Boeing, as the company has been addressing production deficiencies and safety issues since last year’s Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max plane door plug blowout incident.
As part of those efforts, Boeing told the fuselage supplier it would no longer accept deliveries of product that required out-of-sequence assembly or incremental quality rework, according to a May 1 securities filing. As a result, Spirit AeroSystems incurred higher factory costs to upkeep the facility to continue production.
Boeing also worked through a nearly two-month-long workers’ strike at its Washington and Oregon facilities, which manufacture the bulk of its commercial aircraft. The strike ended in November 2024, but Boeing’s West Coast facilities did not restart production until December.
These factors led to higher levels of inventory, contract assets and lower cash flows at Spirit AeroSystems, as the contractor was unable to ship and invoice end items to Boeing in a time span that aligned with its production activities, according to the securities filing.
“These temporary layoffs are required by an inventory excess,” Buccino said.
Despite improved delivery rates in the first quarter and cash advances and credits from Boeing and Airbus, Spirit AeroSystems said it’s still mitigating the lingering effects of the production and delivery changes.
Additionally, the company may face higher costs due to tariffs implemented by the U.S. as well as retaliatory tariffs from other countries. Last week, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to increase steel and aluminum tariffs to 50%, which went into effect June 4.
