Aircraft component maker Spirit AeroSystems is laying off an undisclosed number of workers at its Tulsa manufacturing facility, the company confirmed Friday.
Wichita-based Spirit would not confirm how many employees were being let go. Company spokesman Mark Walker would only say Spirit issued "a small number" of layoff notices to employees Friday.
"Spirit AeroSystems routinely looks for opportunities for efficiency gains and cost reductions in response to financial and performance challenges as reported in our 2012 full-year earnings report," Walker wrote in an email. "To meet our challenges, we are focused on changing the cost model for how we do business in order to bring even more value to our aerospace design/build capabilities."
Spirit employs nearly 3,000 people in Oklahoma, about 2,700 of them at its facility at Tulsa International Airport.
Spirit is a major manufacturer for airplane builders such as Boeing Co., Airbus SAS and Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., making fuselages, wings, pylons, nacelles and other structural parts.
A month ago Spirit reported that revenue and earnings were up during the fourth quarter compared with the previous year, though full-year earnings were down.
The company expects to sell $5.8 billion to $6 billion worth of products this year, up nearly 10 percent over 2012, according to financial projections released in February. However, Spirit did say it was hoping to increase productivity to be more profitable.
The company was formed in 2005 as a spinoff from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Spirit has been a major player in Boeing projects and builds fuselages for the new 787 Dreamliner as well as Boeing 737s.
Walker said the cutbacks are not related to problems with the Boeing 787, which has been grounded worldwide since January due to battery issues.
"The decision to realign the number of employees working on Tulsa programs is part of our process focused on changing the cost structure for doing business," Walker wrote. "Realignment is required to ensure the Tulsa site remains strong and is able to add value to our aerospace design/build capabilities."
Spirit occupies the former Air Force Plant No. 3 at the airport. In November, Tulsa County voters rejected a $386.88 million sales-tax package to fund upgrades for the industrial area's three major tenants, including the American Airlines maintenance base and school bus maker IC of Oklahoma LLC.
At that time, Spirit officials said the company had a total payroll in Oklahoma of about $180 million a year.
Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com
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