Aerospace supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. said Friday it will lay off another 1,450 staff this month, but is also moving 700 other workers to produce medical equipment.

Spirit's move is the first since Boeing Co. and Airbus SE announced separate plans this week to slash jetliner production as the Covid-19-driven global travel collapse left airlines unable or unwilling to take new planes.

The company, based in Wichita, Kan., had already announced plans to shed around a third of a workforce that numbered 18,000 at the start of the year, weighed by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. Spirit makes the fuselage for the plane. It is reviewing potential workforce actions at overseas plants.

The medical-device production in Wichita will last through October, but could be extended, depending on demand.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron at wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2020 18:10 ET (22:10 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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