Spirit AeroSystems
Manufactures commercial and defense aerostructures (fuselages, wings, pylons, nacelles) and integrates metal additive manufacturing to produce end-use titanium aircraft parts, reducing lead times and structural weight.
- CEO / Founder
- Patrick M. Shanahan
- Team Size
- 5001-10000
- Stage
- Subsidiary
- Total Funding
- $1.28B
- Latest Round
- Acquired
- Key Investors
- U.S. Department of Defense
Technology & Products
Key Products
Fuselage sections; Integrated wings and wing components; Pylons and nacelles; Additively manufactured titanium structural parts
Technical position · AMPulse analysis
Qualified additive manufacturing processes for flight-critical titanium parts, supported by aerospace certification and partnerships with Norsk Titanium; scale and supplier relationships create defensibility.
Differentiation
Value Proposition
For aircraft OEMs, Spirit delivers flight-qualified additively manufactured titanium parts with shorter lead times and lower part counts, integrating AM into high-rate aerostructures production to reduce supply chain cost and risk.
How They Differentiate
Spirit is the largest independent tier-1 aerostructures supplier, offering integrated AM for large structural assemblies and fuselage/wing integration; GKN Aerospace and Premium AEROTEC focus on a broader range of AM components but lack Spirit's scale in complete aerostructures.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Aircraft OEMs and defense prime contractors (e.g., Boeing, Airbus)
Industry Verticals
Commercial Aerospace; Defense; Space
Competitors
GKN Aerospace; Premium AEROTEC; Triumph Group
Growth & Milestones
Growth Metrics
June 30, 2024: Entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger; 2025: Announced definitive agreement with CTRM for acquisition of facility in Subang, Malaysia; 2008: Received award honoring outstanding achievements in aviation
Major Milestones
Spun off from Boeing in 2005; Listed on NYSE under ticker SPR; Delivered first 3D-printed commercial aircraft part; Added space as strategic focus business unit (2021); Acquired by Boeing (2025)
Notable Customers
Boeing; Airbus
AM patents
AM-relevant patents linked to this company.
- Patents
- 4
- Granted
- 0
- Families
- 4
Leading domains: equipment (4), material (3), process (3)
Filings by year: 2023: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
- METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IN-SITU THERMAL MANAGEMENT AND HEAT TREATMENT OF ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURING COMPONENTS2022098653 · WO
- METHOD FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTED POWDER CONTAINMENT4509249 · EP
- MODULAR BUILD PLATE AND METHOD FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING4487982 · EP
- Apparatus and method for integrated pick, place and form composite loads over complex geometry tools114945512 · CN
Funding rounds
- Debt$1.2B2023-11Source: PRNewswire
- Grant$80MSource: PRNewswire