Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility
Office Building at Airbus Mobile in July 2018.
Built8 April 2013 (2013-04-08)
Operated14 September 2015 (2015-09-14)–Present
Location320 Airbus Way
Mobile, Alabama
United States
Coordinates30°38′04″N 88°04′16″W / 30.63451203°N 88.07118242°W / 30.63451203; -88.07118242
IndustryAerospace
Products
Employees2,200[1]
Addressairbusalabama.com
Owner(s)Airbus

The Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility is an assembly site for Airbus's Commercial Airplanes division, located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The plant is an assembly and delivery site for Airbus commercial aircraft in the United States and one of the largest employment centers in the state. The site is one of four final assembly and delivery points for the Airbus A320neo family and one of two final assembly and delivery points for the Airbus A220.

History

Delta Air Lines A321 at the Mobile delivery facility

In 2008, Airbus' parent company, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), was working with Northrop Grumman on a bid to supply aerial refueling tankers to the USAF. In their bid to supply the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-45, based on the Airbus A330 MRTT, EADS planned to assemble the aircraft in Mobile, Alabama, after which they would have been modified at a neighboring facility by Northrop Grumman. EADS also announced plans to have its Airbus subsidiary shift Airbus A330 commercial freighter assembly to Alabama.[2] Northrop Grumman and EADS planned to invest approximately US$600 million in new assembly plants in the United States adjacent to one another in the Brookley Complex in Mobile. EADS's failure to win the contract meant that the Alabama production line for the Airbus A330 was never set up.

Beginning on 27 June 2012, The New York Times and other news outlets reported that Airbus had decided to locate a new factory in Mobile for the manufacture of the Airbus A320 family (A319, A320 and A321) of airliners.[3][4] The initial reports were soon confirmed by Mobile's Press-Register, which reported on 30 June 2012, that the deal had been approved by Airbus.[5] The announced plans included a $600 million factory at the Brookley Aeroplex for the assembly of the aircraft, employing up to 1,000 full-time workers when at full capacity. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2013, with it becoming operable by 2015 and intending to produce 40 to 50 aircraft per year by 2017.[5] The plan was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier from the Mobile Convention Center on 2 July 2012.[6][7] A ground breaking ceremony for the factory was held on 8 April 2013.[8]

On 14 September 2015, Airbus officially opened the Mobile assembly line.[9]

Aircraft in production

Airbus A320

Delta Air Lines A321 with the Mobile Plant in the distance

The Mobile plant is a final assembly line for the Airbus A320 family of narrow body aircraft. Aircraft assembled in Mobile are destined for North American airlines such as JetBlue, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. On 21 June 2015, the main fuselage components for the first aircraft built in Mobile arrived at the plant. The first aircraft, an A321, was delivered to JetBlue on 25 April 2016.[10]

All main fuselage parts are shipped by sea across the Atlantic from Hamburg, Germany. As scheduled, in December 2017 the assembly site produced the 50th aircraft and reached an output capacity of four planes per month.[11]

Airbus A220

In October 2017, Airbus announced it would acquire a majority stake in the Canadian Bombardier CSeries programme.[12] With the agreement, the CSeries Aircraft Limited Partnership will be divided as Airbus at 50.01%, Bombardier Aerospace at 31%, and Investissement Québec at 19%.[13] While manufacturing of the CSeries will continue at Bombardier's facilities in the province of Quebec, steep tariffs had tentatively been imposed on the Canadian-made planes being purchased by U.S. airlines. The plan to set up a second assembly line for the CSeries at the Airbus Mobile factory would mean that these aircraft would be domestically produced in the U.S. and avoid the possible tariffs.[14][15][16] The United States International Trade Commission ruled three months later that the Canadian-made planes did not threaten the U.S. airplane industry and no duty orders would be issued.[17]

Production of the A220 started in August 2019. The first aircraft from the new line, an A220-300, was delivered to Delta in October 2020.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Underwood, Jerry (9 May 2022). "Airbus Alabama expansion project adding 1,000 jobs in Mobile". Made in Alabama. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Trimble, Stephen (14 January 2008). "KC-X win would shift A330 Freighter assembly to US". Washington DC: Flightglobal. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  3. ↑ "AP Source: Airbus plans factory in Alabama". Associated Press. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Airbus Is Said to Plan a Factory in Alabama". The New York Times. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Airbus is coming: Agreement approved for $600 million, 1,000-worker plant in Mobile". Press Register. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Melissa Nelson-Gabriel (2 July 2012). "Airbus to Build 1st US Assembly Plant in Alabama". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "Airbus confirms its first US factory to build A320 jet". BBC News. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Biz Bits – HeraldNet.com". HeraldNet.com. 9 August 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Airbus officially opens U.S. Manufacturing Facility". Airbus. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  10. ↑ "Airbus delivers its first aircraft produced in the USA". www.airbus.com. Airbus. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "Airbus delivers 50th plane, inks lucrative deal with Bombardier – Lagniappe Mobile". Lagniappe Mobile. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Marowits, Ross (16 October 2017). "European giant Airbus to buy majority stake in Bombardier's CSeries program". Retrieved 17 October 2017 – via Toronto Star.
  13. ↑ "Airbus and Bombardier Announce C Series Partnership – Bombardier". www.bombardier.com. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Lampert, Allison; Hepher, Tim (16 October 2017). "Airbus takes control of Bombardier CSeries in rebuff to U.S. threat". Reuters. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  15. ↑ Aboulafia, Richard (17 October 2017). "Winners And Losers As Airbus Bails Out Bombardier's C-Series". Forbes.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "Airbus-Bombardier deal: Mobile may get another jet assembly line". Al.com. October 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada Do Not Injure U.S. Industry, Says USITC" (Press release). United States International Trade Commission. 26 January 2018.
  18. ↑ Sharp, John (22 October 2020). "Airbus delivers first Mobile-made A220 aircraft". AL.com. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
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