By Alex Delmar-Morgan Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES A senior Boeing Co. (BA) executive said Tuesday that the plane maker would know by the end of the week whether storm damage suffered by its largest supplier would hit production. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (SPR), which produces fuselages for the best-selling 737 and other parts, was forced to idle its main Wichita facility for a third day as it continued the clean-up and repairs after storms ripped through parts of Kansas at the weekend. The supplier said plant and inventory escaped relatively unscathed and hopes to resume some shipments by the end of the week, but the impact on customers is still being assessed. "We are currently working through contingencies and looking at inventory and we won't know for a few days on the impact on the production system," said Nicole Piasecki, chief strategy and business development officer at Boeing's commercial aircraft unit at an industry conference in Abu Dhabi. Spirit's key role in the Boeing supply chains had raised concern that the plane maker might have to pause production, just as it advances towards a 40% rise in production over the next two years. -By Alex Delmar-Morgan, Dow Jones Newswires; alex.delmar-morgan@dowjones.com
