Important to have stable relations with Spirit, Airbus CFO says

FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, is seen in Wichita, Kansas, U.S. December 17, 2019. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo

(Reuters) -Airbus, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer stressed the importance of a stable relationship with supplier Spirit AeroSystems, in a newspaper interview published on Thursday, as rival Boeing mulls plans to buy the firm.

“It is important that we have a stable relationship with this supplier,” Toepfer told Switzerland’s Boersen-Zeitung.

“The timetable that Boeing has is difficult to predict,” he said, when asked when he expects clarity on the deal.

The U.S. planemaker is exploring offloading or redeploying specific Spirit businesses that supply key Airbus components if it reaches a deal, Reuters reported last week.

When asked if Airbus would be interested in buying Spirit’s Northern Ireland plant, which produces wings for its narrow-body A220 model, Toepfer said the European planemaker’s team supports Spirit operationally, including joint work on improvements.

“We are checking with Spirit what the best option is,” he added.

Airbus had a good start to the year, the finance chief told Boersen-Zeitung.

The company delivered 79 civil aircraft in the first two months, 13 more than in the same period last year, Toepfer said, adding that this put Airbus on track for its annual target of 800 deliveries.

(Reporting by Andrey Sychev, Editing by Rachel More)