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Airbus Mobile

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

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), the predecessor to the modern Airbus SE, announced in June 2005 that it selected Mobile, Alabama for an aircraft manufacturing facility. The company felt that a U.S. manufacturing facility would help it better compete for military aircraft contracts. EADS said that it had picked Mobile for its nearby deep-water port off the Gulf of Mexico, an abundance of industrial space available within the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, the site of the former Brookley Air Force Base, and access to the uncongested Mobile Downtown Airport. EADS also built an engineering office at the site, which opened in 2006.[2]

In 2008, EADS launched a joint bid with Northrop Grumman to supply aerial refueling tankers to the United States Air Force. As part of the bid, EADS planned to assemble the basic Airbus A330 airframe in Mobile before delivering it to a neighboring facility to be operated by Northrop Grumman, where it would be converted into the KC-45 tanker. EADS also announced plans to have its Airbus subsidiary shift Airbus A330 commercial freighter assembly to Alabama.[3] In total, Northrop Grumman and EADS planned to invest approximately US$600 million in their assembly plants in Alabama. However, EADS and Northrop Grumman lost the contract.

However, Airbus remained interested in opening a U.S. manufacturing facility in Mobile. In June 2012, it was announced that Airbus had decided to open the facility to assemble the Airbus A320 family (A319, A320 and A321) of airliners.[4][5][6] 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.[6] The plan was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier from the Mobile Convention Center on July 2, 2012.[7][8] A groundbreaking ceremony for the factory was held on April 8, 2013.[9] On September 14, 2015, Airbus officially opened the Mobile assembly line.[10]

Aircraft in production

Airbus A320

The Mobile plant is a final assembly site for the Airbus A320neo family of narrow-body aircraft, and previously for the Airbus A320 family. Aircraft assembled in Mobile are delivered primarily to airlines based in North America. On June 21, 2015, the main fuselage components for the first aircraft built at the site arrived at the plant, and the first completed aircraft—an A321—was delivered to JetBlue on April 25, 2016.[11]

Major aircraft components, including the wings and fuselage sections, are manufactured at Airbus facilities across Europe and transported to Saint-Nazaire, France, where four aircraft worth of parts are loaded onto a barge. Following a transatlantic crossing, the parts are unloaded at the Port of Mobile and trucked to the factory for assembly.[12][13]

As of 2021, the Mobile site had the capacity to assemble seven A320-family aircraft per month, with plans to add a second assembly line to increase output to 20 aircraft per month.[14][15] The facility was also the final assembly site for the last A320ceo-family aircraft produced, an A321 registered N129DN, which was delivered to Delta Air Lines on December 16, 2021.[16] In October 2025, Airbus opened the second A320neo-family final assembly line at the Mobile facility.[17][18]

Airbus A220

The Mobile plant has also been used as a final assembly line for Airbus A220 narrow-body aircraft since August 2019. The first aircraft from the new line, an A220-300, was delivered to Delta in October 2020.[19] Airbus plans to ramp production in Alabama up to four A220 aircraft each month by 2025.[20]

Airbus acquired a majority stake in the Bombardier CSeries programme in October 2017, renaming the aircraft the A220.[21][22] While manufacturing of the A220 was already under construction at facilities in the province of Quebec, formerly owned by Bombardier, the aircraft was potentially facing steep tariffs for Canadian-made planes being purchased by U.S. airlines. Airbus announced that to avoid the possible tariffs, it would set up a second assembly line for the A220 at the Airbus Mobile factory.[23][24][25] 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.[26]

See also

External links

References

  1. Jerry Underwood. Airbus Alabama expansion project adding 1,000 jobs in Mobile Made in Alabama, May 9, 2022, retrieved May 26, 2022^
  2. Airbus picks Mobile, Ala. for new factory June 22, 2005, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  3. Stephen Trimble. KC-X win would shift A330 Freighter assembly to US Flightglobal, January 14, 2008, retrieved March 1, 2008^
  4. AP Source: Airbus plans factory in Alabama Associated Press, June 28, 2012, retrieved June 30, 2012^
  5. Airbus Is Said to Plan a Factory in Alabama The New York Times, June 27, 2012, retrieved June 30, 2012^
  6. Airbus is coming: Agreement approved for $600 million, 1,000-worker plant in Mobile Press Register, June 30, 2012, retrieved June 30, 2012^
  7. Melissa Nelson-Gabriel. Airbus to Build 1st US Assembly Plant in Alabama Associated Press, July 2, 2012, retrieved July 2, 2012^
  8. Airbus confirms its first US factory to build A320 jet BBC News, July 2, 2012, retrieved July 2, 2012^
  9. Biz Bits – HeraldNet.com HeraldNet.com, August 9, 2015, retrieved January 4, 2018^
  10. Airbus officially opens U.S. Manufacturing Facility Airbus, retrieved January 4, 2018^
  11. Airbus delivers its first aircraft produced in the USA www.airbus.com, Airbus, retrieved December 18, 2016^
  12. Binyamin Appelbaum. A Look Inside Airbus's Epic Assembly Line The New York Times Magazine, May 3, 2017, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  13. Janet Nodar. An Airbus cargo shift from lift-on, lift-off to roll-on, roll-off Journal of Commerce, October 11, 2018, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  14. Rising to the challenge Airbus, 2020, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  15. Ashley Horn. Airbus to Add Third Final Assembly Line in Mobile as Company Ramps Up Production Mobile Chamber, May 10, 2022, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  16. Valias Venckunas. End of an era: Delta begins flights with last-ever Airbus A320ceo Aerotime^
  17. Airbus inaugurates second A320 Final Assembly Line Airbus, October 13, 2025, retrieved January 23, 2026^
  18. Shelby Myers. Airbus inaugurates second A320 Final Assembly Line in Mobile WALA-TV, October 13, 2025, retrieved January 23, 2026^
  19. John Sharp. Airbus delivers first Mobile-made A220 aircraft AL.com, October 22, 2020, retrieved July 28, 2021^
  20. Airbus Canada can still meet its objectives at Mirabel, says boss CTV News, January 27, 2023, retrieved March 19, 2024^
  21. Ross Marowits. European giant Airbus to buy a majority stake in Bombardier's CSeries program October 16, 2017, retrieved October 17, 2017^
  22. Airbus and Bombardier Announce C Series Partnership – Bombardier www.bombardier.com, retrieved October 17, 2017^
  23. Allison Lampert. Airbus takes control of Bombardier CSeries in rebuff to U.S. threat October 16, 2017, retrieved October 17, 2017^
  24. Richard Aboulafia. Winners And Losers As Airbus Bails Out Bombardier's C-Series Forbes.com, October 17, 2017, retrieved January 4, 2018^
  25. Airbus-Bombardier deal: Mobile may get another jet assembly line Al.com, October 2017, retrieved January 4, 2018^
  26. 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada Do Not Injure U.S. Industry, Says USITC United States International Trade Commission, January 26, 2018^