A major Boeing supplier is to make up to 450 workers redundant after its biggest customer was forced to cut aeroplane production. Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactures fuselages for Boeing, faces mounting losses after the mid-flight blowout of a plug door on a Boeing 737 Max plane in January sparked safety concerns and attracted massive regulator scrutiny. The company sent a memo on Thursday to staff at its main plant in Wichita, Kansas, saying that a redundancy process was coming. The memo was first reported by KSN TV. “The recent slowdown in the delivery rate on commercial programmes compels a reduction to our workforce in Wichita,” a company spokesman told Reuters. “In the coming weeks, we will inform affected employees. We are committed to implementing this transition in as compassionate a manner as possible.” Spirit had already begun to limit overtime and hiring as production declines due to lower output of 737 Max jets. A week ago, Spirit announced that losses had more than doubled in the first quarter of 2024, compared with a year earlier, to $617m (£487m) as orders from Boeing slowed and the company was weighed down by the costs of investigating the January incident. It burned through...