Professional Pilot, October 2018
Boeing Wichita began building B 29 Superfortress bombers in 1944 Boeing founder William Boeing is at top right PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2018 105 Lloyd Stearman inset began making airplanes in Wichita in 1927 He sold out to United Aircraft and Transportation 2 years later In 1934 Boeing which had been a part of United was split off as a separate unit and took the Stearman brand under its wing Spirit AeroSystems Wichitas largest employer in 2008 First to be sure there was an important buffer in all this confusion and foreboding Spirit Aerosystems which was created in 2005 as a spin off company when Boeing divested its long standing Wichita Commercial Aircraft division As Wichitas largest employer with more than 10500 coming to work each day Spirit in 2008 was outside the business aviation bubble building the entire fuselage of all Boeing 737s as well as other components on the model With global commercial airlines rapidly ramping up orders for new aircraft Spirit the worlds largest first tier aerostructures manufacturer throughout the past decade has ridden the crest of accelerating order rates In fact with current employment at about 12000 the company announced earlier this year it will hire 1000 workers by end of 2019 This will allow Spirit to meet Boeings announced plans for a 737 production rate by then of 57 units each and every month up from a current rate of 52 per month Spirit AeroSystems created in 2005 when Boeing closed out its Commercial Aircraft Division in Wichita builds the entire fuselage for Boeings 737 program Recently announced plans to increase production of Boeing 737 to 57 units per month mean increased employment at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita Spirit CEO Tom Gentile came to company in 2016 after an 18 year career at General Electric
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