The review led by retired U.S. Navy Admiral Kirk Donald will examine Boeing’s commercial airplane quality management as well as its supplier quality oversight.
“We’re not going to point fingers,” the Boeing CEO said. “Because, yes, it escaped their factory; but then it escaped ours too. So, we’re all in this together.”
The new CEO of Spirit AeroSystems is expanding his imprint on the beleaguered aerostructure provider’s operations with the departure of COO Samantha Marnick.
Launch of the stretched A220 earlier than 2026 would free production slots for the higher-margin A321 and A321XLR variants—but a few hurdles stand in the way.
Backed by recent major orders for the type, Airbus has decided monthly output of its most important widebody will increase to 10 aircraft per month in 2026.
Pat Shanahan is committed to eliminating disruptions at Spirit, saying: “The mindset I have is that we can be zero defects. We can eliminate all defects."
For too long, OEMs assumed that compliant aerostructures suppliers were a given. That era is over, and aerospace stakeholders must plan for a new reality.
Listen to any senior executive at the top of the commercial aircraft supply chain and it won’t take long to hear concerns about struggles going on downstream.
