Wichita aerospace workers ratify new contract with Boeing

16,000 engineers and technical workers in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah are next to negotiate with the aerospace giant

WICHITA, KS (February 3, 2026) — Hundreds of aerospace professionals working at Boeing’s newly acquired Wichita operations have ratified a new contract with the company, locking in significant salary increases and improved benefits. This is the first contract that the workers’ union, SPEEA – the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, has negotiated since Boeing acquired Spirit AeroSystems at the end of 2025.

Workers are part of SPEEA’s Wichita Technical & Professional Unit, made up of white-collar professionals working in non-engineering roles at Boeing-Wichita. Contract highlights include a $6,000 ratification bonus and 20% wage pool increases over the life of the contract, which spans 58 months. Individual wage increases vary based on performance, but for the first time, SPEEA secured guaranteed annual wage increases of at least 2%. Annual performance bonuses will increase to a maximum of 14%.

Workers will also switch to a set of Boeing medical insurance plans in 2027, saving the average worker $3,100 in medical costs, with some seeing savings as high as $7,000. And starting in 2027, workers will be eligible for a 100% 401(k) match for workers putting 10% of their own money into their 401(k) savings plans. The contract also secures improvements to paid time off, including an additional 10 weeks of paid leave for new parents and an average of six more days of general paid leave.

“The average WTPU-represented worker will be making more than $117,000 a year when this contract is done in 2030,” said James Hatfield, who was the chair of the WTPU negotiation team. “In addition, we’ll see significant improvements to our health care benefits with lower premiums, we’ll have more days off from work and we’ll have a higher incentive pay target.”

Nearly 16,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah will enter negotiations with Boeing later this year. The contract for those workers — members of SPEEA’s Technical unit and Professional unit — expires on Oct. 6.

Per the union, SPEEA President John Dimas observed negotiations in Wichita, and “witnessed a member-driven WTPU negotiation team that understood and communicated the needs of WTPU members, and also a Boeing management team that listened and responded to those needs.”

In a statement following the Wichita units contract ratification, Dimas said he hoped the Boeing management team in the Northwest will be equally receptive to worker proposals in upcoming contract talks with Northwest workers.