Click to View AIRBUS Ground Breaking Video
The festive groundbreaking event for Airbus' A320 Family final assembly line in Alabama included a traditional Southern U.S. welcome -- complete with a Dixieland Band and the Azalea Trail Maids, who serve as Mobile's "official ambassadors" in antebellum-style dresses -- along with speeches by elected officials, business representatives, a major A320 airline customer and a key Airbus supplier. Spotlighted at Mobile's Brookley Aeroplex was a JetBlue Airways A320 -- symbolizing the designation of this carrier to receive the first U.S.-built aircraft from the Mobile final assembly line, scheduled for delivery in 2016.
During a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mobile Brookley
Aeroplex, Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier acknowledged the
significance of the U.S. facility to Airbus' global growth. "Building an A320
Family Assembly Line in Mobile is truly groundbreaking for Airbus. Our
customers need more aircraft that cut fuel burn, emissions and operating costs.
With this assembly line we will be able to meet our customers' needs at their
doorstep, in addition to the worldwide demand for these efficient aircraft.
When this assembly line opens, we will be the only one to assemble aircraft in
Asia, the Americas and Europe."
"This represents
the real transformation of Airbus into a truly global company," Airbus
President and Chief Executive Officer Fabrice Bregier told the crowd of
dignitaries gathered under a sprawling tent on the tarmac alongside a JetBlue
A320.
With production facilities in Europe, Asia and now the United States, Airbus enjoyed a milestone of its own as ceremonial shovels turned Alabama's red clay, Bregier said.
"Thanks to Mobile, the sun will never set on Airbus," he told the cheering crowd, reinforcing the integral role the Mobile facility will play in helping the Toulouse, France-based planemaker execute its long-term growth strategy.
Major construction of the facility will begin this summer. Aircraft assembly is planned to begin in 2015, with first delivery of a Mobile-assembled aircraft in 2016. At full production, the assembly line and associated facilities would produce up to four aircraft a month which directly translates into employing as many as 1,000 high-skilled workers.
EADS CEO Tom Enders helped lead the celebrations and welcomed more than 1,000 attendees including many EADS and other Airbus executives, state and national dignitaries, industry officials and the local community. In a twist from typical groundbreaking ceremonies, officials and dignitaries introduced various members of the Gulf Coast community and aviation industry who spoke about how the new assembly line is not just about making airplanes, but the substantial positive impact it will make in the lives of thousands of people like themselves.
Local community representatives included: Henry Hinojosa, Project Superintendent with Hoar Program Management represented the local construction industry; Liz Freeman, co-owner of Long's Human Resource Services represented local small businesses; Victoria Corob, an eighth grader in Mobile; and Dr. Keivan Deravi, Professor of Economics at Auburn University Montgomery. Industry speakers included Clay Jones, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Collins and Dave Barger, President and CEO of JetBlue Airways.
Click to View Rendering of Facility Construction
Construction of Airbus' U.S. A320 Family final assembly line -- which will be located at Mobile, Alabama's Mobile Brookley Aeroplex -- is simulated in this three-dimensional video, which shows what the production facility will look like upon its completion.
Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive family of airliners on the market, ranging in capacity from 100 to more than 500 seats. Airbus has achieved more than 7,700 deliveries since the first Airbus aircraft entered service.
Airbus already has a strong and growing presence in Alabama and throughout the United States. In Alabama, the company operates an Engineering Center in Mobile - also located at Brookley Aeroplex - which employs more than 200 engineers andsupport staff. In addition, Airbus' operates an even larger Engineering Center in Wichita, Kansas, an aircraft Spares Center in Ashburn, Virginia; a Training Center in Miami, Florida, and a regulatory and government liaison office in Washington, D.C. The company's headquarters for the Americas is located in Herndon, Virginia. Airbus' U.S.-based air traffic management subsidiary, Metron Aviation, is located in Chantilly, Virginia. All together, Airbus' U.S. facilities employ more than 1,000 people. Airbus is an EADS company. FMI: AIRBUS, See Image Gallery