Airbus agrees to pay $1 for Spirit AeroSystems assets in deal sparked by Boeing 737 Max blowout
Spirit AeroSystems produced several parts for the Airbus A220 and A350. Sebastian Kunigkeit/picture alliance via Getty Images
- Airbus has agreed to acquire assets of Spirit AeroSystems for $1.
- It will also be compensated with $559 million from the aviation manufacturer.
- The bulk of Spirit is being bought by Boeing in the wake of the Alaska Airlines blowout.
Airbus has agreed to buy assets from a major aviation supplier for a symbolic $1 price tag, the planemaker announced Monday.
Spirit AeroSystems, which was part of Boeing before being spun off in 2005, is being carved up following January's Alaska Airlines blowout.
Boeing is paying $4.7 billion to buy back Spirit AeroSystems, the companies announced Monday.
However, the deal also requires Airbus' involvement because Spirit supplied the European planemaker with several key parts.
Airbus said it has entered a binding term sheet agreement which will see it acquire the production of "major activities related to Airbus." That includes building A350 fuselage sections, as well as the pylons, wings, and mid-fuselage for A220 jets.
Plus, Airbus would be compensated with $559 million from Spirit AeroSystems.
This isn't the first time that Airbus has picked up assets on the cheap. The A220 began life as the Bombardier CSeries, but financial issues saw Airbus buy a 50% stake for one Canadian dollar in 2018. That was later raised to 75% in a $591 million deal.
Spirit built the fuselage of the Alaska 737 Max that lost its door plug in midair and sparked a crisis at Boeing. Weeks after the incident, Boeing began negotiations to buy back the firm in an attempt to improve its quality-control processes.
In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said Spirit sent the plane to Boeing's factory with damaged rivets. The door plug was then opened to solve this, but it wasn't bolted back into place before being delivered to Alaska Airlines, per the report.
The fallout has seen Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announce his resignation, and the Justice Department consider criminal charges against Boeing, which could be announced this week.
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