Bombardier is open to the prospect of acquiring work packages from Spirit AeroSystems in Belfast focused on the production of aerostructures for its business jets, although the Canadian airframer would also be content with Boeing taking on that activity and becoming one of its suppliers.
That is according to Bombardier chief executive Eric Martel, who says his company’s overarching interest is to ensure that its supply chain remains stable as Spirit is divided between Airbus and Boeing.
“If us taking over the site is the best scenario, we would definitely consider that, with the right conditions,” Martel said on 1 May during Bombardier’s first-quarter earnings call.
But Boeing acquiring the work is also “a scenario we are OK with, if they meet our objectives”, Martel adds. “Our only objective is to make sure we have quality of supply and on-time supply.”
Bombardier previously owned the Belfast facility but sold it to Spirit in 2020. The site, still traded under its original Short Brothers name, produces fuselages for Bombardier Global and Challenger jets, and wings and mid-fuselage sections for A220s.
Boeing is now pursuing a plan to acquire Spirit, which produces 737 fuselages and is its largest supplier, through a deal expected to close around mid-year.
However, the prospect of its arch rival being responsible for the production of A220 and A350 structures prompted Airbus to agree the acquisition of Spirit’s work for it in Belfast, the USA and France.
Airbus will take over the A220 wing production and mid-fuselage work in Belfast, though the European airframer will only acquire the latter if Spirit cannot find another buyer.
Assuming it cannot also find a third-party buyer, Boeing would be left with the non-Airbus work at Belfast, including production of structures for Bombardier jets.
“There are a lot of stakeholders involved,” Martel says. “We still have options today.”
The possibility of Short Brothers being broken up has raised alarm from the GMB trade union, which represents workers at the Belfast site. The union claims that Boeing has “indicated it is not interested” in the Belfast activities, and has been seeking assurances that jobs will be protected.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GMB representatives met with UK industry minister Sarah Jones and Tonia Antoniazzi, chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, at Westminster on 30 April.
Alan Perry, senior GMB organiser, who led the Belfast delegation, says the meetings “went really well”.
“The ministers said they acknowledge our concerns and that we need to find a solution that suits everybody, that’s the key.
“To some extent that’s what we expect, but there’s no definitive position on what that looks like.”
Perry says the union is not seeking radical intervention from the government, such as taking the plant into public ownership, simply that it “use its leverage”, for example by offering subsidies or support for any buyer in return for “guarantees around potential future jobs”.
He fears that if Boeing ends up with the remainder of the plant, “it will be a complete disaster for everybody” as the airframer will have little or no incentive to invest in a facility building parts for other manufacturers.
“We know we have to get somewhere and the clock is ticking,” he adds.
