Freeze on Boeing 737 MAX forces Spirit AeroSystems to cut back

The biggest Boeing Co. BA -0.76% 737 MAX supplier said it is planning an initial 2,800 layoffs, the first announced job cuts since the grounding of a plane that is rippling through the broader aerospace industry.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. SPR -1.59% makes the fuselage and engine parts for the MAX and had been producing enough for 52 jets a month before Boeing said it would freeze assembling the planes in January for a “temporary” time.

As the largest U.S. manufacturing exporter and one of the nation’s top private employers, Chicago-based Boeing plays a big role across the industry and in the U.S. economy.

Production of the MAX, which was Boeing’s best-selling plane, supported thousands of jobs across a network of over 600 suppliers and hundreds of other smaller firms in the global MAX supply chain.

Excerpt from WSJ
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