Getting to Know Jim Hans

Jim Hans
Vice President 737 Operations

You retired and came back to Spirit.  What made you decide to come back?

I understood the need and believed I could add value with Operational experience to help Spirit make 2023 the year of recovery.

What’s the biggest challenge you face right now in your new position, and what at Spirit gives you the confidence to succeed?

The biggest challenge is establishing trust with the team and the customer and focusing the teams on the imperative of daily execution. The capability of this team, the dedication to the company, and the leadership commitment gives me the confidence to succeed.

What do you like to do in your down time from work?

I enjoy classic cars and am best friends with my kids.

Let’s talk safety. What do you see as significant about the Near Miss Madness?

The Near Miss Madness campaign that everybody is embarking on across the campus opens the eyes of all employees and drives people to look for hazards before someone gets hurt. It is significant because it allows us to see the issues, understand, and get the eyes of the collective team to look at our safety hazards. It sharpens the investment in safety….and helps our team to go home safely.

What would say about how Spirit’s commitment to safety has evolved?

The safety journey at Spirit has evolved significantly. We have made investments and implemented technology that have taken people out of harmful situations. We have come a long way from safety just being a visibility board to changing the way we do business. Safety has become the core of our business. In every single meeting we hold, safety is the first discussion. During the performance meetings that I hold daily, weekly, and monthly with the teams leading the factory, the very first metric is our safety performance. We talk about any issues that have happened. We talk about projects that are being worked to improve safety for our people.