As authorities probe Boeing’s safety protocols as part of their investigation into what went wrong with a flight that blew a hole midair last week, the role of a major supplier is also coming into focus: Spirit AeroSystems.
Alaska
Jet accident probe expands to include Boeing supplier
Spirit builds the fuselage, or main compartments, of the Boeing’s 737 Max 9 jets at its Wichita factory before shipping them for finishing by Boeing. Spirit said its work on the fuselage includes completing the initial installation of the panel that broke off the Alaska Airlines flight, although it’s not clear whether the doors were reinstalled later. The company says it is responsible for manufacturing about 70 percent of each Boeing 737 aircraft before it is delivered by rail to Boeing’s factory in Washington.
At the Boeing factory, the plane’s wings, engines and internal components are installed before delivery to airlines. Investigators will seek to learn more about the manufacturing process with Spirit’s input, an NTSB spokesman said.
The Alaska jet was almost brand new, and four experts have said initial evidence suggests a problem that cropped up when it was being built.
So far, public attention has fallen primarily on Boeing, one of only two major airliner manufacturers globally. The company has struggled to repair its reputation after design flaws contributed to two deadly plane crashes several years ago. In remarks to employees Tuesday at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Wash., chief executive David Calhoun said the company’s approach to Friday’s incident would involve “acknowledging our mistake.”
“We’re going to approach it with 100% and complete transparency every step of the way,” he said. The company distributed a transcript to the media and declined to comment on what Calhoun considered the company’s mistake. “We are going to work with the NTSB who is investigating the accident itself to find out what the cause is.”
In the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident, Spirit has said little publicly but started holding safety meetings Monday with teams across the company, spokesman Joe Buccino said. The meetings were focused on quality and following processes, he said.
“As a company, we remain focused on the quality of each aircraft structure that leaves our facilities,” Spirit said in a statement Wednesday.
Spirit is far less well known than Boeing, its biggest customer. It was spun out of Boeing in 2005 and now makes parts for several manufacturers, including Airbus, Boeing’s main competitor. But Boeing and Spirit remain closely intertwined and, along with engine companies, it ranks among the aircraft giant’s most important suppliers.
“They’re not making 737s without Spirit,” said Ronald J. Epstein, an analyst at Bank of America.
Spirit has struggled in the past year with a string of manufacturing problems that have delayed deliveries of the Boeing 737 Max, a series of midsize single-aisle passenger planes. The troubles have prompted a shareholder lawsuit alleging it was slow to disclose the issues.
The in-flight fuselage breach last week has put the Kansas company under scrutiny at a time when analysts say it was trying to rebound after a pair of crashes that previously grounded the Boeing 737 Max and the coronavirus pandemic shook the aviation industry.
Spirit was not implicated in the problems that caused the crashes of two 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. But in January 2020, with the planes still ordered out of service by aviation authorities around the world, Spirit sent layoff notices to about 2,800 employees at its Wichita plant. They said at the time that the move was “a necessary step given the uncertainty related to both the timing for resuming 737 MAX production.”
As the coronavirus spread, the company took another major blow. It reduced its global workforce by 6,600 employees and cut pay for salaried workers, according to a November 2020 securities filing detailing its response to the pandemic.
“They were hit harder than any company in the business,” because of its heavy dependence on the 737, said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia. Grounding the Max, and the pandemic, he said, were “the makings of a huge crisis.”
The company struggled through, shifting to producing sorely needed ventilators for covid-19 patients at one point and taking $75 million in federal aid. Despite struggles to rebuild its workforce, analysts said it had appeared to be on a good path heading into 2024. In October, the company switched chief executives, hiring longtime Boeing executive Pat Shanahan and striking new financial terms with its biggest customer.
Boeing declined to comment on its relationship with Spirit or its role in the installation of the door plug. Spirit declined to comment on its relationship with Boeing.
In a sign of the Spirit’s importance to their home state, Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), who sits on a key tax committee and leads an aerospace-focused caucus, and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who serves on one of the top transportation committees in the chamber, have long have been public advocates for Spirit.
Moran said Tuesday that he had been briefed by NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy on the Alaska incident and would continue to monitor the investigation.
“For the thousands of Kansans who work in aviation, their jobs depend on passengers feeling safe to fly,” Moran wrote on X.
The Max was cleared to fly again in late 2020. In recent years Boeing has been racing to fill orders for the plane from airlines around the world. But the discovery of manufacturing problems last year slowed deliveries.
Last April, Spirit notified Boeing that it had discovered problems with fittings on the plane’s vertical fin, the company disclosed in SEC filings. It said the issue was not an immediate safety threat, a finding that was confirmed by Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Spirit spent months fixing 737s located at its production facility in Wichita, at a cost of more than $30 million, according to an SEC filing.
By August, then-chief executive Tom Gentile declared in a filing that the costly repair work was “behind us,” adding “we look forward to executing on our customer commitments for the rest of the year.”
The same month, Boeing and Spirit disclosed that improperly drilled holes had been found on a rear bulkhead, causing more disruptions. In both cases the problems were uncovered before the planes carried passengers and the FAA said they did not pose an immediate safety risk.
In a complaint filed in December, lawyers for Spirit shareholders alleged that the company had known about the problems much earlier than when they were disclosed to investors. It also alleges the company ignored employees’ warnings about defects. The lawsuit cites an internal complaint filed by a former inspector at Spirit in early 2022 who alleges the company’s products “frequently contained defects” due to its “rushed production process.”
Gentile and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
“The company is schedule-driven, not quality-driven,” said the former employee, who worked at Spirit for more than a decade and spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity because he still works in the aviation industry.
Company managers repeatedly discouraged the former employee and other inspectors from logging defects, the former employee said. “I’ve been saying for years that it was just a matter of time before something was going to happen.”
The suit also cites the account of another former employee who said auditors discovered in 2019 that torque wrenches were miscalibrated, an issue that could lead to parts being over- or under-tightened, threatening their structural integrity.
The shareholders’ complaint alleges that Spirit suffered repeated quality failures because it had not hired enough workers to meet demand and “prioritized production numbers and short-term financial outcomes.”
Spirit has not filed a response to the allegations in the lawsuit, which is still in its early stages. Buccino said the company disputes the allegations.
“Spirit strongly disagrees with the assertions made by plaintiffs in the amended complaint and intends to vigorously defend against the claims,” he said. “Spirit will not comment further as to the pending litigation.”
The aviation industry has struggled across the board with labor issues, seeing waves of job cuts at the beginning of the pandemic before scrambling to rehire workers as demand bounced back much quicker than many had expected. The result at a manufacturer like Spirit has been a loss of experienced employees who can help get new hires up to speed, analyst Aboulafia said, and which could contribute to quality problems.
In June, Spirit manufacturing employees, who had agreed to continue working under an old contract during the pandemic, briefly went on strike. The two sides soon reached a deal on wages, drug coverage and overtime, but company executives said the walkout caused another disruption to production.
Gentile was replaced as chief executive in October, and the company’s board turned to Shanahan to help chart the company’s path forward. He had worked at Boeing for three decades and served as deputy secretary of defense during the Trump administration. Shanahan quickly made a deal with Boeing to help stabilize the company’s finances and address manufacturing problems. Aboulafia said he was the right person to step into the role because “he can read reality to Boeing.”
A month into the job, Shanahan was clear about the challenges the company had faced. In a November earnings call, he used a military term to describe his approach to the job, saying he was at the company to “take charge and move out.”
“I recognize we have disappointed our stakeholders,” Shanahan said. “We want to restore confidence in the company.”
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that the first two Arctic Security Cutters will be homeported in the State of Alaska. Anticipating delivery of the first Arctic Security Cutters by the end of 2028, the Coast Guard has begun planning to ensure necessary infrastructure and support are in place to receive two icebreakers. Ensuring these vessels are supported by trained and ready crews, and ready homeport facilities including housing, will be essential to delivering full, enduring operational capability required to meet emerging Arctic security challenges.
“Homeporting these two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska is a decisive step forward in securing America’s Arctic frontier,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “I want to thank President Trump for his bold leadership and vision in directing this critical investment, as well as Senator Sullivan and the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation for championing the funding that made these icebreakers possible. These vessels will deliver the enduring operational presence our nation needs to protect sovereignty, deter foreign adversaries, and safeguard vital resources for the American people..”
The homeporting of the first two Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska builds on the historic expansion of the Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet and underscores an unprecedented investment in the Arctic. This announcement marks a national milestone in U.S. Arctic capability, following contract awards for up to 11 Arctic Security Cutters. Fueled by $3.5 billion in funding in the Fiscal Year 2025 Reconciliation Bill and facilitated by a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the United States and Finland in October 2025, the acquisition of Arctic Security Cutters will fulfill President Trump’s directive to rapidly deliver America’s newest icebreaker fleet.
“Homeporting Arctic Security Cutters in Alaska underscores the United States’ leadership as a maritime power in the Arctic,” said Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “By strategically positioning these state-of-the-art icebreakers in Alaska, the Coast Guard will maximize our ability to defend our northern border and approaches, while reinforcing America’s maritime dominance in a crucial region of strategic importance.”
Through contract awards to Rauma Marine Constructions Oy of Rauma, Finland, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C., and Davie Defense, Inc. of Vienna, VA, the U.S. will immediately benefit from our Finnish partners’ icebreaker expertise while coordinating the onshoring of that expertise and shipbuilding to the United States. Under the MOU, Finland will construct up to four ASCs for the U.S Coast Guard. U.S. shipyards will build and deliver up to seven additional ASCs. Delivery of the first Arctic Security Cutters is expected by the end of 2028.
Arctic Security Cutters will form the backbone of a revitalized U.S. icebreaker fleet, strengthening American maritime dominance in the Arctic. Fielding specialized capabilities, these icebreakers will defend U.S. sovereignty, secure critical shipping lanes, protect energy and mineral resources, and counter foreign malign influence in the Arctic region. A robust icebreaker fleet will enable the Coast Guard to control, secure and defend U.S. Alaskan borders and Arctic maritime approaches, facilitate maritime commerce vital to economic prosperity and strategic mobility, and respond to crises and contingencies in the region.
Acquisition of Arctic Security Cutters supports the Coast Guard’s ongoing modernization, through which the Service is transforming into a more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.
Memorandum on ASC Homeporting
###
Alaska
‘We never forgot her’: Friends, family of longtime Alaska teacher gather for 100th birthday celebration
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Phyllis Sullivan has certainly led a life worth celebrating.
Born in 1926, Sullivan moved to Alaska with her husband and three children in 1959 to teach, first in the village of Kwethluk in Western Alaska and later at Wendler and Mears Middle Schools in Anchorage.
All the while, she left strong impressions with countless students and acquaintances, some of whom gathered in the basement of Anchor Park United Methodist Church in Anchorage Saturday to celebrate Sullivan’s century of life.
“Education has been the primary thing in her entire life,” her son Dennis Sullivan said. “She’s always been a school teacher and she’s been one of the sweetest people in the entire world.”
As a slideshow featuring vintage photos from her life and time in Alaska played, Phyllis, wheelchair-bound but high in spirit, stopped to chat with every new person who entered the room, some of whom she hadn’t seen in years.
“It’s impressive that this many people are here,” she said. “That’s very encouraging. Makes me think maybe I did something right along the way.”
Aside from family members, most visitors were there because of the impression Phyllis Sullivan left on them during her many years in the classroom.
“She gave us this one assignment: to memorize a poem,” former Mears student Tina Arend recalled. She said Phyllis Sullivan was her 8th grade English teacher.
“And when she gave us the assignment, she said, ‘I’ve had students come back many, many, many years later and recite the poem to me.’ And we actually still remember the poem,” Arend said of her and her husband, who was also in attendance. They both went on to become teachers at Mears as well.
Matthew Nicolai, whom Phyllis Sullivan taught in Kwethluk, has similarly fond memories.
“The Bureau had ordered that teachers do corporal punishment for speaking Yup’ik,” Nicolai remembered. “Even though we spoke Yup’ik, she never did that, never cracked our hands. Other teachers did, but not her. That’s why we never forgot her.”
In addition to teaching, Phyllis Sullivan also found time to open her home to those in need. She and her husband once took in a family with seven kids who had been displaced by flooding in Fairbanks in 1967.
“It touched our heart because they bought us a lot of stuff that we needed because we lost a lot of stuff during the flood,” David Solomon, one of those seven kids, said. “We stayed there for over three years.”
Phyllis Sullivan said she is enjoying life and is doing fine.
“My mother made it to 103,” she said. “So, I’ve got a while yet.”
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The Alaska Senate Finance committee advanced a draft capital budget on Tuesday that would put nearly $250 million toward state facilities and maintenance projects next year.
The draft budget adds $88 million to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed capital budget of $159 million, with the largest additions going toward K-12 schools and university facilities maintenance.
That was a focused effort by the finance committee, said co-chair Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, who called funding for education facilities maintenance a “heavy concentration” on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, students and school officials testified to lawmakers that decades of deferred maintenance has reached crisis levels — with many rural school districts in particular grappling with deteriorating facilities, failing water and sewer systems — which they say is degrading student and staff morale. Lawmakers have expressed support and increased funding in recent years, but point to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s history of vetoes as a roadblock for funding education.
The Senate draft includes $57.8 million in additional funding toward K-12 school maintenance through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and $17 million toward the University of Alaska. It also includes $5.7 million for the Alaska Court System’s facilities and $8 million for community infrastructure and workforce development programs through the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development.
The Legislature relies on state ranked lists to prioritize where to direct funding to capital projects for K-12 schools, the university system and the court system.
For K-12 schools, the state’s current major maintenance list totals over $400 million needed for 103 school projects and repairs. Stedman said he recognized this year’s capital budget will only fund a fraction of those.
“Hopefully we get a quarter of it done, or something like that, but it’d be nice to retire the entire list,” Stedman said.
The draft budget would fund the top 15 school projects on the list, plus funds for three other schools in need of emergency fuel tank repairs. The top projects range from roof and boiler replacements to septic systems, fire suppression and safety upgrades in schools from Fairbanks to the Aleutian Islands.
In order to distribute funds more widely, members of the finance committee reduced funding for one project in Galena, in the Western Interior of Alaska, from roughly $35 million to $5 million for renovations to the Sydney C. Huntington Elementary and High Schools. They also allocated $17 million towards rebuilding the school in Stebbins in Western Alaska, after it burned down in 2024.
The Senate draft also adds nearly $14 million in funding for the state-run Mt. Edgecumbe High School, which has been the focus of public attention and concern after a quarter of students disenrolled this year. The additional facilities dollars include $10 million to remodel the dining hall, $3.1 million to replace dorm windows, $460,000 to replace dorm furniture, $50,000 to replace mattresses and $125,000 to replace aging laundry machines.
Finance members added $17 million to fund the top nine projects across the University of Alaska system — three projects each within the three major campuses.
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, serves on the finance committee and his district includes University of Alaska Southeast. He described the proposed funds as a “nickel” compared to the “colossal” deferred maintenance needs of the university system.
“That’s been built by Legislatures and Boards of Regents for 40 years,” he said on Wednesday, adding that it is a shared responsibility to put funding towards repairs and upgrades.
“The Constitution makes them a separate body within the executive branch that puts a lot of responsibility on them, too, more than the general state government,” he said “So university major maintenance is its own huge problem.”
The draft budget also includes $5.7 million for upgrades to state court facilities, mostly targeted to Anchorage and Sitka. It contains nearly $10 million for workforce development programs geared at the construction and oil and gas sectors, including for the Fairbanks Pipeline Training Center and Alaska Vocational Technical Center in Seward.
An amendment to add $25 million to the draft budget for the Port of Anchorage, sponsored by Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River, was voted down on Tuesday by a 5 to 2 vote.
Before voting against the proposal, finance co-chair Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, said during committee deliberations the priority this year is to fund as many school maintenance projects on the list as possible, saying “schools are falling apart” and must be maintained to prevent further deterioration.
“Students that are trying to learn deserve better,” Hoffman said. “And if we are not able to provide this major maintenance, we are going to see these schools continue to crumble, and the financial burden to the state of Alaska will be hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild schools.”
More funding for school maintenance and other capital projects could be added by the Alaska House of Representatives, who will take up the draft budget bill after it’s approved by the Senate in the coming weeks.
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