Spirit Aerosystems, which builds the large composite aerostructures for the B-21 bomber, also manufactures structural components for the 737 Max. Since the halting of Max production, employees who would normally work on the aircraft programme have been boosting production of the B-21 bomber.
“The folks that are not manufacturing 737s and those components came over to our production line and really kind of beefed up — where people had some COVID issues — they beefed up that portion of our production,” he said. “Right now, the components that we’re building are really for the test fleet, but the good news: All of what we’re doing today is really insightful for what we’re doing for production in the future.”