Union officials from Belfast aerospace manufacturer Spirit met politicians in Westminster on Wednesday as sources suggested that talks on a sale of part of the site are under way.
Airbus has pledged to take control of part of the facility that makes components for the European aircraft giant, but fears remain for the future of more than 2,000 workers not involved in that operation.
Officers and workers from unions Unite and GMB met industry minister Sarah Jones, the British parliament’s Northern Ireland affairs select committee and its chairwoman, Tonia Antoniazzi, on Wednesday.
It came as there were unconfirmed reports that Spirit was in talks with a possible buyer for the elements of the Belfast manufacturing plant not required by Airbus.
Susan Fitzgerald, secretary of Unite Ireland, stressed that unions want a single owner to take over the facility or, failing that, a joint venture.
“If those companies are looking for funding from the British government, that should be on the basis of the government taking equity,” she said.
Ms Fitzgerald argued that lucrative state contracts gave the British government “huge leverage” with Airbus. She stressed that Northern Ireland’s entire aerospace industry was at risk if Westminster did not use this influence.
Alan Perry, a GMB senior organiser, acknowledged that politicians understood the crisis facing workers at the plant.
“They do accept what’s at risk if there’s a carve-up, and they know what they have to do, but the question is: can they do it?” he said.
[ Unions bid to secure 2,000 jobs at Spirit’s Belfast plantOpens in new window ]
Ms Jones said she had assured union officials that the UK government understood the plant’s historic importance and the potential of its skilled workers.
“We are doing all we can to find an outcome that protects both manufacturing and jobs in Belfast,” she said.
Known as Short Brothers, the plant employs around 3,500 people, but the Airbus deal secures only around 1,500 of those jobs.
US aircraft maker Boeing is taking over Spirit, originally a part of its business that it spun off in 2005, amid fallout from a near-catastrophic accident on January 2024 in which a fuselage built by Spirit lost a large panel during flight.
That mishap led to a rolling crisis at Boeing, leading to a management shake-up, an ongoing quality makeover and federal limits on Boeing’s production that are still in place
But the US aerospace group is not taking control of the Belfast factory, which manufactures parts for Bombardier and Rolls-Royce along with Airbus.
[ How the crisis at Boeing is threatening a historic Belfast factoryOpens in new window ]
Airbus is taking control of that part of the business that makes wings for its A220 passenger jets. It says it is willing to acquire another element that produces fuselage sections for the same model, should no buyer emerge for that.
Airbus says the Belfast operation is key to its plan to boost aircraft production to tackle a shortage that has weighed on the entire air travel industry for most of this decade.
However, the group’s view is that the best solution for the facility’s future would be to find a buyer for those elements that it is not taking over.
