Update: Market Chatter: Whistleblower Claims Boeing Supplier Spirit AeroSystems Regularly Shipped Defective Fuselages

(Updates with Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing comments starting from the fifth paragraph and stock move in the last paragraph.)

Santiago Paredes, who worked for Spirit AeroSystems (SPR), regularly found "anywhere from 50 to 100, 200" defects on fuselages that were being shipped to Boeing (BA), he told CBS News in an interview broadcast late Wednesday.

Paredes, a former Spirit quality manager at a plant in Wichita, Kansas, told CBS News he was pressured to downplay quality issues because the defects would delay deliveries.

"They always said they didn't have time to fix the mistakes," Paredes told CBS News. "They needed to get the planes out."

Paredes said he left Spirit in the summer of 2022.

Spirit spokesman Joe Buccino told MT Newswires on Thursday that the company takes "all employee concerns about quality, safety, work practices, and products very seriously."

"We encourage all Spirit employees with concerns to come forward, safe in knowing they will be protected," Buccino said.

"Our employees' well-being and the quality of our work are both top priorities for us," Buccino said. "To this end, we have recently enhanced our reporting system with the Quality 360 program, which includes QR codes and a streamlined format to make it easier for employees to submit anonymous complaints."

A Boeing spokesperson told MT Newswires that the company has "taken significant action to improve the quality" of Spirit fuselages.

"On March 1, we moved inspection and rework teams to their factory in Wichita and have since only allowed fully-inspected fuselages to be shipped to Boeing," the Boeing spokesperson said. "This action has reduced non-conformances by 80 percent."

Boeing said on March 1 that it entered into talks to buy Spirit.

Shares of Spirit and Boeing rose 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, in recent trading.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)