Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Boeing is set to take control of Spirit AeroSystems’ plant in Belfast, setting up an awkward cohabitation with rival Airbus after efforts to find a buyer for Northern Ireland’s biggest aerospace manufacturer failed.
Unions and industry figures had pinned their hopes on Bombardier, the plant’s former owner, but talks with the Canadian planemaker were not progressing, according to several people familiar with the situation.
Unless talks with Bombardier are resurrected or another buyer emerges, Boeing will be forced to share the plant with rival Airbus. The European planemaker said in April it would acquire the wing production for the A220 jet at the site, and would add the mid-fuselage work for the programme if no other buyer was found.
The development has dashed workers’ hopes that Bombardier might step in to buy the historic site as part of Boeing’s $4.7bn takeover of the US supplier it had spun out two decades ago. Production carried out on behalf of other companies at the site will transfer to Boeing as the main owner even though none of the work is for the US planemaker.
The potential impact on jobs was not immediately clear. Spirit employs about 3,500 people across six sites in Belfast that do work for Airbus as well as other aerospace companies, including for Bombardier’s business jets.
The Canadian company, which bought the plant in 1989 but sold it to Spirit in 2000, was regarded by those involved in the discussions as the most credible purchaser and one union official said it was the only party to have been in advanced talks on the price for the A220 mid-fuselage work.
Boeing on Tuesday said that “taking ownership of Belfast is an outcome we’ve known was a possibility for some time”.
“We will warmly welcome Shorts Brothers Belfast to the Boeing family,” it said, adding that it would be “good stewards of the business”.
The US group, Airbus and Spirit all confirmed they had informed workers of the expected changes ahead of the deal closing in the third quarter.
However, Bombardier on Tuesday said it was “actively engaged with all parties to ensure continuity and quality of supply. We remain open to all solutions with regards to the site’s future”.
One person familiar with the process said the fact that employees have been informed was “the indicator that talks have not progressed”.
“Per the agreements, the A220 wing and A350 engineering programmes are expected to transfer to Airbus and, if a suitable third-party buyer is not secured for the remainder of the Belfast site, the A220 mid-fuselage programme transfers to Airbus, with the remaining Belfast operations transferring to Boeing,” said Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino.
He added: “To date, no suitable buyer has been secured for the remaining Belfast operations. Accordingly, it is expected that the remaining [non-Airbus] Belfast operations transfer to Boeing.”
Airbus on Tuesday said that as no agreement with a third party buyer had yet been reached “closing the transaction is now business critical for all parties”. Airbus’ immediate priority, it added, was to “welcome the transferring employees into the Airbus family and stabilise production”.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said this week it had begun an antitrust investigation into Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit, with a decision due by August 28.
