Spirit to hire plant workers

• January 12, 2011
  
  

  By D.R. STEWART, Staff Writer
  Tulsa World
  1/11/2011

  Spirit AeroSystems Inc., the Wichita-based aerospace manufacturer that
  fabricates wing components in Tulsa for several Boeing commercial aircraft,
  will hire 200 factory workers for the Tulsa and Wichita plants in the first
  quarter, company executives said Monday.

  In Tulsa, where Spirit seeks aircraft assemblers with a minimum of three
  years of experience in structure mechanics, systems installation and
  sealing, a job fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.

  “We know we are going to need more people,” said Spirit spokesman Mark
  Walker. “There are several aircraft programs we’re increasing rates on. We
  know the 737, 747-8, 777 and 787 programs will eventually pick up. We’re
  trying to attract people who are qualified.”

  Spirit, which employs 14,000 people worldwide, has 2,000 workers in Tulsa
  and 264 in McAlester. The company employs 10,000 people in Wichita.

  The Spirit AeroSystems job fair in Tulsa will be held at the Green Valley
  Center, 11333 E. Pine St., officials said. Employment applicants should
  enter the southwest doors of the Green Valley Center and check in at Suite
  57, officials said.

  On Tuesday and Wednesday, Spirit and the machinists union are holding job
  fairs in Wichita, company executives said. The company is planning another
  job fair in Wichita on Jan. 21 for workers who might consider moving to the
  company’s plant in Tulsa, executives said.

  “We’re doing a job fair in Wichita because we know a lot of people have
  been laid off,” Walker said.

  Spirit also expects additional hiring at its facility in Kinston, N.C.,
  where Spirit builds the center fuselage and wing spar for the Airbus A350,
  company officials said.

  “What we’re dealing with are rate increases across different programs where
  job numbers are not the only issue,” said Ken Evans, Spirit spokesman in
  Wichita. “There are also issues with expanded space, the right tooling
  (and) if you change processes in a particular way or not.”

  Although the economy and airline passenger traffic have not returned to
  pre-recession levels, industry executives said they saw signs of reviving
  demand in the last months of 2010.

  Boeing reported 462 commercial airplane deliveries in 2010, down from 481
  in 2009, and 530 net commericial aircraft orders, more than double the 263
  aircraft orders a year earlier, company executives said.

  “With 376 deliveries in 2010, the next-generation 737 set a company
  delivery record for the second consecutive year,” said Jim Albaugh,
  president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

  In 2010, Boeing announced a series of production rate increases throughout
  its product line to meet increasing airplane demand from carriers
  worldwide.

  The next-generation 737 production rate will grow to 35 per month in early
  2012 and 38 per month in the second quarter of 2013.

  The 777 production rate will increase from five to seven per month in
  mid-2011 and grow to 8.3 per month in the first quarter of 2013, executives
  said.

  The 747-8 Freighter is scheduled for first delivery in mid-2011 and first
  delivery of the 747-8 Intercontinental is planned for late year, according
  to officials.

  The much-delayed 787 Dreamliner continues in flight testing, officials
  said.

  Spirit-Tulsa is fabricating 2,100 pounds of composite fixed leading edges
  and 1,700 pounds of movable leading edges for each 787′s wings. Spirit also
  is manufacturing composite floor beams for the 787, officials said.

  Boeing expects to provide 2011 commercial airplane delivery guidance when
  the company releases 2010 year-end earnings Jan. 26, officials said.

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