Stelia Aerospace (stylized STELIA Aerospace) is an aerospace company headquartered in Toulouse, France.[3] It specializes in designing and manufacture of aerostructures, pilot seats and premium class passenger seats, mainly for the commercial aviation sector.
Stelia Aerospace was created on 1 January 2015 by the merger of two Airbus business units: Aerolia and SOGERMA. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus.
History
Stelia Aerospace traces its origins to the merger of two companies, SOGERMA and Aerolia. SOGERMA (Société girondine d’entretien et de réparation de matériel aéronautique) was a French company founded in 1924 amid the early days of aviation.[4]
Prior to its restructuring in 2006, the company largely focused on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO),[5][6] but subsequently directed its resources to its specialist aerostructures and seating activities.[7]
Aerolia SA was founded on 1 January 2009 as a spin-off of Airbus France's aerostructures activities.[8][9] This involved the Méaulte and Saint-Nazaire industrial plants, along with a design office in Toulouse.[10]
In 2007, EADS' management decided to respond to the weakening US dollar and large investments required for the Airbus A380 and A350 XWB programs by restructuring in order to streamline, divest several non-core activities, and cut costs.[11][12] Aerospace periodical Flight International compared the move to Boeing's then-recent spin-off of Spirit AeroSystems.[13]
On 1 January 2015, Stelia Aerospace was created via the merger of Aerolia and Sogerma.[14] At the time, Stelia Aerospace employed roughly 6,100 staff across 11 different locations, and the two merged businesses were considered "complementary".[15] Contracts previously undertaken by the two firms carried over to the new entity, including those for fitting-out work on Airbus airliners.[16]
In March 2017, Stelia Aerospace inaugurated a new aeronautics factory in Méaulte, Northern France; this facility, which handles production of the forward fuselages of Airbus airliners and central fuselage of Bombardier Aerospace’s Global 7500 series of business jets, had required a €70 million investment.[17] In February 2018, Stelia Aerospace demonstrated a metallic fuselage panel manufactured using 3D printing techniques.[18][19] The same year, the firm acquired a majority share of Toulouse-based digital modelling specialist Portalliance Engineering.[20]
In October 2019, Stelia Aerospace announced plans to build a new assembly plant in Portugal at a cost of €40 million.[21] In February 2020, the company started a three-year partnership with Bombardier for the AILE (Aile Intelligente et Légère pour l’Environnement, or Intelligent and Light Wing for Environment) research programme.[22]
Starting on 1 January 2022, Stelia Aerospace sites worldwide were grouped with other Airbus sites in Nantes and Montoir-de-Bretagne under the newly formed Airbus subsidiary Airbus Atlantic.[23]
Business activities
Stelia Aerospace has three main business segments: Stelia Aerospace also manufactures aircraft interiors.
- Aerostructures
- Premium class airline seats (First, Business, Premium Economy)
- Pilot seats
Aerostructures
Stelia Aerospace designs and manufactures fully equipped aircraft fuselage sections from the nose to the rear, wings and special Work Packages such as the main landing gear bay, A400M ramp door, and helicopter tail boom.
A major portion of the company's business is the design and manufacturing of aerostructures, including complex detailed parts comprising both composite and metallic materials. Stelia Aerospace claims that it is one of a small number of companies able to provide a fully equipped section (metallic and/or composite fuselage section, with all the tubes and wiring systems integrated), developing the "plug and fly" concept.
Aircraft components manufactured by Stelia Aerospace include:
- Wings of the ATR family, which are fully equipped and tested up to the final test benches.[24]
- Central section of the Bombardier large business jet Global 7000/8000.[25]
- Various sections of the Airbus A220, such as the cockpit and aft fuselage.[26]
- Elements of the Airbus BelugaXL, including the nose section, cargo door, and upper fuselage with pre-integrated systems (electrical, hydraulic, air conditioning, oxygen, etc.)[27]
Locations
Stelia Aerospace is a global business with 11 worldwide industrial facilities and supporting offices.
External links
- Stelia Aerospace official website
- Stelia North-America official website
References
- Interview with Cédric Gautier, CEO of Stelia Aerospace www.journal-aviation.com, retrieved 2024-07-24^
- Stelia Aerospace. 53ème Salon International de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace STELIA Aerospace, 2019-05-24, retrieved 2024-07-24^
- 2017 Annual Report Airbus, 2017^
- Company Overview of EADS Sogerma S.A. Bloomberg, retrieved 7 April 2016^
- Murdo Morrison. Sogerma overhaul Flight International, 12 December 2006^
- David Kaminski-Morrow. Manager buys out EADS Sogerma landing-gear MRO unit Flight International, 3 November 2008^
- Michael Gubisch. INTERIOR: Sogerma unveils premium seat siblings Flight International, 10 April 2013^
- Michael Gubisch. FARNBOROUGH: Aerolia on expansion course Flight International, 11 July 2012^
- Michael Gubisch. Aerolia runs up A350 panel production Flight International, 18 June 2011^
- Toulouse · France Toulouse · France, retrieved 2022-12-26^
- Murdo Morrison. ILA: Premium Aerotec gears up to meet the demands of parent Airbus Flight International, 19 May 2014^
- Comment: Airbus's blessing in disguise Flight International, 13 January 2009^
- Murdo Morrison. Free spirit builds its destiny Flight International, 10 July 2009^
- Dan Thisdell. INTERIORS: Rebranded Stelia sets out Celeste seating concept Flight International, 15 April 2015^
- Aerolia and Sogerma merge into Stelia Aerospace sampe-europe.org, 17 December 2014^
- Juergen T. Steinmetz. Contract renewed: Stelia Aerospace Airbus eturbonews.com, 21 June 2017^
- STELIA Aerospace inaugurates its Aeronautical Factory of the Future in Méaulte, France industryeurope.com, 20 March 2017^
- Michael Gubisch. Stelia manufactures fuselage panel through 3D printing Flight International, 18 February 2018^
- Sam Davies. STELIA Aerospace utilises Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing to build fuselage panel demonstrator tctmagazine.com, 19 February 2018^
- Michael Gubisch. Stelia takes over digital engineering partner Portalliance Flight International, 22 November 2018^
- Airbus-owned Stelia Aerospace to build Portugal assembly plant Reuters, 29 October 2019^
- Stelia Aerospace participates in AILE project with Bombardier jeccomposites.com, 7 February 2020^
- Airbus Annual Report 2021: Connecting and protecting Airbus, 2022^
- Murdo Morrison. ANALYSIS: Revamped production line allows ATR to ramp up Flight International, 16 June 2015^
- Stelia Aerospace – Assembling Global 7500 Fuselages in Mirabel airinsight.com, 19 April 2019^
- David Kaminski-Morrow. Airbus to shift A220 cockpit and fuselage work to Mirabel site Flight International, 13 February 2020^
- David Kaminski-Morrow. Beluga XL upper fuselage shipped to Airbus line Flight International, 10 July 2017^