Boeing supplier CEO Patrick Shanahan emerges as potential successor to Dave Calhoun

“Our teams have made critical improvements to the quality management system over the past six months,” Shanahan said Monday. “Those improvements will continue.” He added that bringing together Boeing and Spirit would enable greater integration and improve safety and quality systems.

For its part in the deal, Boeing will pay $4.7 billion in stock and take on Spirit’s net debt of about $3.6 billion. Meanwhile, Spirit will pay Airbus $559 million to take over money-bleeding facilities making A350 and A220 parts.

Financial analysts expressed skepticism regarding what the deal means for Boeing. Rob Stallard of Vertical Research Partners described it as "good for Spirit, good for Airbus, and less good for Boeing." Despite this assessment, Stallard acknowledged that bringing Spirit back in-house could help get the 737 program back on track.

Stewart Glickman of CFRA Research agreed that while beneficial for other parties involved, the deal is no panacea for Boeing's issues with regulators or its delivery cadence for 737 Max jets.

Ben Tsocanos from S&P Global Ratings noted that unless airplane production ramps up significantly by late this year, credit agencies might penalize Boeing.

Assuming regulatory approval is obtained and the deal is finalized within a year as expected, merging Spirit’s operations with Boeing’s will present challenges due to internal production problems at both companies. Analysts warn there'll be no quick fix; resolving these issues will require talent, training, and time rather than just a business agreement.

Despite these concerns, Shanahan remains optimistic about improving operational efficiencies through new technologies and revamped work procedures at Spirit AeroSystems.

“I feel really good about the progress,” he stated. “We’re getting back to being airplane builders.”

©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

###