News
Boeing’s Adient joint venture starts operations
October 19th 2018
Following the closing of its acquisition of aircraft parts and services supplier, KLX Inc., last week, Boeing on Tuesday announced that its joint venture (JV) with Adient Aerospace had received all regulatory approvals and is now operational. Read More »
The JV is developing a portfolio of seats for new airplanes and retrofit configurations. Adient Aerospace has opened a customer service center in the Seattle area and product development is underway in Kaiserslautern, Germany, as a continuation of work performed under an agreement the two companies signed in 2017. Adient Aerospace is initially developing lie-flat business class seating for widebody aircraft.
The companies appointed Alan Wittman as CEO and named the team that will lead Adient Aerospace in addressing the aviation industry's need for more capacity and quality in airplane seating solutions.
Industry analysts forecast the commercial aircraft seating market to grow from approximately US$4.5 billion in 2017 to US$6 billion by 2026.
"Adient Aerospace is now open for business, providing better customer and passenger experience with quality seats," Wittman said. "Our focus is comfort, craftsmanship and operational excellence that will differentiate our products and services, all while offering more choice and better meeting the commercial airplane industry's needs,” he added.
The JV’s executive team comprises Jason Fahlbush (Adient) as COO, Jörg Kaib (Adient) as CFO, Gary Senechal (Boeing) as VP of sales and marketing, Stefanie Rautio (Boeing) as VP of certification and regulatory compliance, as well as Frank Toenniges (Adient) as VP of engineering.
