Globalization here at home

In September, Airbus inaugurated operations at its U.S. manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama. The plant assembles single-aisle A319, A320, and A321 airliners. Even before the official opening, two A321 aircraft were in production at the site. A sign that the U.S. facility has truly arrived, it even has its own website and a Twitter handle, @AirbusInTheUS.

It’s the latest example of aircraft and jet engine manufacturers’ decentralization, either to other sites in the U.S. or across the globe. Boeing expanded its 787 commercial aircraft production beyond Washington State to South Carolina and has a joint venture in China. In Florida, Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney opened an engine production line, and Brazilian company Embraer also assembles business jets in the state. The goal, beyond creating additional production capacity and reducing risks from a having a single source, is to locate production closer to markets.

As Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier remarked at the opening of the Mobile final assembly line, “It enables us to grow our already significant presence in America – the largest single-aisle aircraft market in the world – and to be closer to our U.S. customers and key supplier partners.”

It also gives Airbus more flexibility to increase production across the enterprise to meet global demand. By 2018, Airbus plans to produce between 40 and 50 single-aisle jetliners per year in Mobile, part of its larger goal to increase the A320 family production rate to 50 jetliners per month starting in 2017. Airbus’ market forecast indicates a demand during the next 20 years for 4,700 single-aisle aircraft just in North America, so it makes sense that the company wants to be close to those potential buyers.

It’s not the first move in this strategy. In addition to its base in Toulouse, France, Airbus has A320 family final assembly lines in Hamburg, Germany, and Tianjin, China.

And Alabama isn’t the company’s first American presence. In addition to its U.S. headquarters in Virginia, Airbus has engineering and defense offices in Alabama and Kansas; a training center and Latin America headquarters in Florida; helicopter factories and operations in Mississippi and Texas; and aircraft spares facilities in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. Airbus Group operates in 38 locations across 16 states and supports 245,000 American jobs. It spent $15.9 billion with U.S. companies in 2014. At full production, Airbus’ new $600-million Mobile manufacturing facility with its 260 production employees will sustain about 3,700 full-time jobs in the region with an estimated annual contribution of $400 million, according to the company.

The U.S. is the largest single supplier country to Airbus, and many Aerospace Manufacturing and Design readers may benefit directly or indirectly from its supply chain. We’re in a global market, as Airbus’ increased presence in America serves to illustrate. The line between foreign and domestic OEMs is blurring. Let’s hope the global forecasts for thousands of airliners prove correct, because everyone will benefit.

– Eric