Boeing is buying Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) - Boeing announced plans late Sunday to acquire key Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems for $4.7 billion ($37.25 per share).

Boeing previously owned Spirit, and the purchase would reverse a longtime Boeing strategy of outsourcing key work on its passenger planes.

Concerns about safety came to a head after the Jan. 5 blowout of a panel on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 at 16,000 feet over Oregon. No one was seriously injured in the Alaska Airlines door incident, which terrified passengers.