Woodward and Hexcel merger chasing tip-to-tail manufacturing strategy in planes and turbines

FORT COLLINS — The $6 billion tie-up between Fort Collins-based Woodward Inc. (Nasdaq: WWD) and Stamford, Connecticut-based Hexcel Inc. (NYSE: HXL) seems to follow a recent strategy for aerospace companies as of late: Make as much of the plane as possible.

The merger, announced Sunday afternoon as an all-stock deal, is one of a string of combinations in the aerospace industry in recent years, all seeking to supply more and more parts of a single plane, and to make that plane guzzle less fuel.

The new company, to be named Woodward Hexcel, will…