Kansas Governor Attends Event In Wichita Before Assembly Is Shipped

The fuselage for the first Boeing 737 MAX has been completed by Spirit Aerosystems. The company held a ceremony last Thursday morning to show off the fuselage assembly before it was shipped off to Renton, WA where it will become the first test aircraft in the new line.

Eventually, the fuselage will be painted in Southwest Airlines livery. Southwest is the launch customer for the 737 MAX.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Spirit Aerosystems CEO Larry Lawson said that the company has been helping Boeing build 737s for 50 years ... initially as part of Boeing. Spirit was formed after Boeing sold commercial airplane operations in Wichita and Oklahoma to Onex Corp in 2005. 

A spokeswoman for Boeing confirmed that the first 737 fuselage was built in Wichita. That assembly began service with Lufthansa in 1968.

Spirit expects that it will increase its monthly output of 737 fuselages from 42 to 47 per month this year, and that will grow to 52 per month by 2018, as Boeing ramps up its production of the single-aisle airplane.

(Image from YouTube Video)

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.spiritaero.com