Spirit AeroSystems

Boeing will use stock to pay the $4.7 billion purchase price for the Wichita company.

As Boeing works to boost quality, it’s in talks to buy Spirit, a key supplier. NPR got a look inside the factory in Wichita where Spirit builds the fuselage for the 737.

Boeing used to own Spirit but spun it off in 2005 as it moved to an outsourcing model. Spirit is Boeing's largest supplier.

Boeing says Spirit AeroSystems has discovered another problem with fuselages of its 737 jets that might delay deliveries of about 50 aircraft. Both companies are facing intense scrutiny over the quality of their work after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 was forced to make an emergency landing last month.

Federal investigators are scrutinizing Spirit AeroSystems, a major Boeing supplier based in Kansas, as they try to understand why a fuselage panel blew off an Alaska Airlines jet in midair last month.

The Federal Aviation Administration says it will review information from those inspections of Boeing 737 Max 9 jets while it develops a maintenance process before letting the planes carry passengers again.

The lawsuit doesn't specifically mention door plug systems like the one that failed last week. But it adds to the scrutiny of Spirit AeroSystems, which has been linked to other problems.

It's their first new contract since 2010.

Interns from around the world are making Wichita their home for the summer. They’re taking a go at potential careers while exploring what Wichita has to…