The future of more than 2,000 Northern Ireland aerospace jobs is uncertain following the confirmation that French aircraft manufacturer Airbus will buy only part of the Spirit AeroSystems operation in Belfast.
Spirit AeroSystems confirmed on Monday it has entered into “a definitive agreement” with Airbus for the Toulouse-based aircraft giant to acquire certain assets.
The deal is part of the broader carve up of the aerospace business between Boeing and Airbus.
Kansas-based Spirit Aero, which acquired the Short Brothers manufacturing operation from Bombardier in 2019, employs around 3,500 people in Northern Ireland.
Under the deal announced on Monday morning, Airbus will take over the Belfast wing production line for its A220 jets, which the Unite union say employs around 1,000 people.
Sir Keir Starmer (centre) touring the Spirit AeroSystems production facility in Belfast in January 2023. The Unite union has called for his government to intervene to protect around 2,000 jobs within the Northern Ireland operation. (Brian Lawless/PA)
Airbus said it will also take over the production of the A220 mid-fuselage in Northern Ireland if a suitable buyer is not identified for the remainder of the Belfast site by the time the deal closes in the third quarter of 2025.
Unite say between 400 and 500 people work on that particular production line.
But the union said it leaves an uncertain future for more than 2,000 jobs within Spirt Aero’s Northern Ireland operation that are not connected with the Airbus supply chain.
The union said the potential break-up of Spirit “constitutes an unprecedented threat to Northern Ireland aerospace, wider economy and society”.
A financial filing published by Spirit AeroSystems for its Northern Ireland business last week confirmed the US aerospace group wants to divest the remaining Belfast business.
But if an alternative buyer cannot be found for the non-Airbus related part of the business by the close of the Airbus deal in Q3 2025, then ownership will transfer to Boeing.
In a separate statement, the GMB union claimed Boeing is not interested in the rest of the Belfast site.
The Unite union has also raised questions over the longer-term security of the 400-500 jobs on the Airbus fuselage and other production lines for Spirit outside the current contract period.
The union has called on the UK government to intervene.
“Hundreds of highly skilled Spirit workers are facing an uncertain future,” said Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham.
An Airbus A220-300 aircraft.
“The UK government must now intervene to secure not just the workers but the future of Northern Ireland aerospace.
“The government has huge leverage over the key players – billions in contracts and government grants go to these aircraft manufacturers.
“It cannot drop the ball and allow the collapse of Northern Ireland’s strategic and world-class aerospace sector. Government needs to deliver for Northern Ireland.”
Under the deal, Spirit will pay Airbus $439m (£329m) to reflect the fact the operations it is acquiring are loss-making.
The Spirit AeroSystems business in Northern Ireland, which still trades as Short Brothers Plc has not been profitable since 2016.
The latest accounts for the business show it a recorded pre-tax loss of $339 million in 2023.
It takes the total pre-tax loss for the operation to $1.2 billion since it was last profitable in 2016.