17 February 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The U.S. Air Force praised the workers at Spirit AeroSystems Friday morning. It came during the celebration of the 100th delivery of the KC-46A Pegasus fuselage.
“It is important to tell you that the KC-46, the airplane you get up and leave your families every day to come and build, is amazing,” Colonel Nate Vogel, commander 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, said. “We trust it, and, ultimately, that means we trust you.”
Spirit workers, Boeing executives, local dignitaries, and McConnell airmen participated in the morning celebration, with the 100th integrated forward fuselage serving as a backdrop.
McConnell got its first KC-46A in January 2019. The fleet has grown to 24 refueling Pegasus tankers and will expand to 36. The KC-46A can also carry cargo and serve as a communications hub.
“McConnell Air Force Base is known as MOB One, meaning Main Operating Base One,” Vogel said. “That is a distinctive sign of pride, meaning we were the first base with the KC-46, and the 22nd Air Refueling Wing has the most assigned to it, and we intend to lead the way.”
Spirit learned in 2011 that it would be a supplier for the Pegasus. It completed the KC-46A’s first fuselage section almost 10 years ago, in July 2013. Wichita workers also build the fixed edge of the wing, the pylon, and the nacelle of the Pegasus. From Wichita, the parts go to Boeing’s plant in Everett, Washington.
Tom Gentile, Spirit AeroSystems president and CEO, said Spirit used to send the parts for the forward fuselage by rail to Boeing, and Boeing workers would finish putting it together.
“Beginning in 2019, after almost 20 years of effort, we finally worked with Boeing so that we integrate that forward fuselage here and ship it as a fully integrated section on the Dreamlifter to Everett,” Gentile said.
The Dreamlifter, a modified Boeing 747, lands at McConnell to pick up the fuselage. The 100th fuselage will be flown to Everett on Monday.
“There have been many improvements and investments since that first delivery back in 2013,” Gentile said. “One of them is the building we are in. This didn’t exist back in 2013. We call it our Northeast Manufacturing Center, and it is the center of excellence for the forward fuselage for the 767, which includes the KC-46 tanker and the freighter that we deliver to cargo carriers around the world.”
The center is at 3800 South Oliver.
Gentile also spoke of how Boeing honored Spirit workers with a plaque earlier this month. The plaque recognized two years of FOD-free deliveries. He said FOD is foreign object debris.
“It’s anything that ends up in the forward fuselage that doesn’t belong there. It could be shavings, a tool, anything. It’s critical that we eliminate FOD.”
When the fuselage section arrives in Everett, Boeing says it adds the “military capability directly into the DNA of the aircraft to make the KC-46A the world’s most advanced, multi-mission aerial refueler.”
“I have to say Kansas truly is KC-46 country,” Kim Pastega, vice president and general manager of the Boeing 767 program, said during Friday’s ceremony.
She said the plane is both FAA and U.S. Air Force certified.
“You all know the level of safety quality and dedication to excellence it takes to maintain FAA certification from the very start of production for every component all the way through market service and support,” Pastega said. “Achieving the level of certification for a commercial-derivative military aircraft takes commitment, it takes teamwork, and it takes execution.”
She said Spirit AeroSystems is one of more than 650 American suppliers for the plane. The suppliers employ 37,000 workers across 43 states.
When Col. Vogel added his remarks about the Pegasus, he told stories of all it has accomplished since McConnell got its first one.
“I’m proud to say that we’ve taken the airplanes that you’ve created and turned them into combat-capability at a lightning pace,” he said.
“The 22nd Air Refueling Wing has taken an airplane you helped build and has turned it into a tanker that can do things, and, I choose my words carefully, that no air force in the world has ever seen a tanker do before,” Vogel said. “That helps us win wars, helps ensure some wars never start and ultimately helps ensure our way of life continues.”
He again expressed his appreciation for Spirit’s involvement in building the tanker.
“I thank you for the care you put into your product and for protecting my airman and aviators,” Vogel said.
Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Pete Meitzner said Spirit’s work shows how far the area has progressed since Boeing announced it was leaving in 2011.
“For Spirit to pick up and continue to manufacture fuselages, then going into the military side of this, I’m so proud of what Spirit and what our local economy does,” he said. “It’s a credit to the local leaders that just said we’re not going to shut this place down.”
Wichita Council Member Brandon Johnson, District One, also praised Spirit.
“Colonel Vogel said that they trust the KC-46, which means they trust the workers who build it. That’s a big deal,” Johnson said. “Trusting the capabilities of our city and our employees and Spirit as a company means a whole lot. I think that’s job security for the future as well.”