Spirit to furlough hourly employees on 737 Max program in Wichita as Boeing stops work

Most Spirit AeroSystems hourly employees in Wichita directly associated with production work and support functions for the 737 program will be furloughed beginning Monday, according to Spirit. The furloughs are in response to Boeing’s directive to Spirit to stop producing 737 Max ship sets, Spirit officials said. It will affect around 900 people at the company. Spirit will implement the furloughs for the Wichita employees through July 6 for a total of 21 days, said Keturah Austin, senior manager for corporate communications at Spirit.