This may be dated news, but news worth noting because of its importance to our state's economy and Washington jobs.
From the New York Times last summer, Airbus is locating its first assembly in the United States in Mobile, AL, a city which currently houses 200 of its engineers. The A320 is the primary competitor for Boeing's 737 which is assembled in Renton.
According to the TImes: "The move into the heart of Boeing’s home market is part of a long-term strategy by Airbus aimed at doubling its share of the world’s largest market for 150-seat airplanes, which includes Boeing’s top-selling 737.
Airbus, the European airplane maker, is investing $600 million over the next five years to build an assembly line in Mobile for its popular A320 single-aisle jet — its first factory in the United States.
The plan calls for the construction of a plant capable of assembling 40 to 50 A320 jets a year by the end of 2017. Construction of the site — which will build aircraft from prefabricated sections built at Airbus factories in Germany and France — is set to begin next summer, with the first A320 assemblies beginning in 2015.
Within five years, Airbus expects to deliver four planes a month to U.S. airline customers, which currently represent around 15 percent of the company’s order backlog. Alabama officials said the state would provide Airbus with more than $100 million in tax breaks and other incentives to support the project.
The A320 plant is expected to create roughly 1,000 new jobs, a figure that includes direct Airbus employees as well as jobs with suppliers. Airbus and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) currently employ around 1,000 people in the United States, including 200 engineers at an existing technical center in Mobile.
The plan to expand in the United States follows the opening of Airbus’s first non-European assembly line in Tianjin, China, in 2008. That plant now produces 36 A320 planes a year for the Chinese market.
Alabama is a right to work state and a place which offers incentives to manufacturers.
