Europe’s Airbus has reached a deal to acquire manufacturing assets from Spirit AeroSystems as the struggling Kansas-based supplier nears its $4.7 billion reacquisition by Boeing.

European plane-maker Airbus will take over parts of Spirit AeroSystems as it and Boeing carve up the key supplier in an effort to improve production quality.

While Spirit has since become an important vendor to Airbus, it is still Boeing’s largest single supplier. Boeing’s $4.7 billion (€4.14 million) acquisition, announced in July 2024, required Airbus to take over some operations or rely on its global rival Boeing to supply it with critical aircraft components.