Wichita Company Provides More For Boeing

Boeing's Commercial Aviation Services has signed Spirit AeroSystems to provide component repair and overhaul services on Boeing airplane components, reported the Wichita Business Journal.

The contract involves repairing and overhauling engine nacelles (engine inlets, fan cowls, thrust reversers and exhaust nozzles) for 737 and 777 jets. Spirit currently builds nacelles for the production of new jets.

The new Boeing contract means the company will provide repair and overhaul service for jets currently in service around the world.

Spirit is certified by the FAA to sell replacement parts directly to airlines, which opened an additional revenue stream by giving Spirit the ability to sell parts to customers other than Boeing.

The agreement is part of Boeing's Component Repair and Leasing Services Network Service Center program offering repair support for Boeing customers in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, said Boeing.

Spirit provides experience and an inventory of thousands of spare parts and components, said Mark Owen, vice president of Boeing's Commercial Aviation Services Material Management.

The Boeing repair network service center program is part of a continuing strategy to reduce maintenance costs and provide faster repair and overhaul solutions of key rotable, or replaceable after wear, components for Boeing customers around the world.

Spirit ranks as the second largest Wichita-area employer in the Wichita Business Journal's 2006 Book of Lists. The company builds 75 percent of the Boeing 737 airframe plus the forward section and other assemblies for every Boeing commercial jet currently in production.

Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, a unit of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, provides products, services and integrated solutions to improve fleet utilization, reduce costs, leverage leading-edge information management and ensure passenger well-being.

FMI: www.boeing.com/commercial/spares/index.html, www.spiritaero.com