Airbus, Mobile Celebrates 500th Alabama-Made Aircraft Amid Continued Supply Chain Crunch

Supply chains for engines and aircraft components continues to frustrate airlines waiting on Airbus and Boeing to assemble their planes and deliver them to customers.

Airbus had to roll back its production ramp up expectations earlier this summer, despite a global order backlog of its A220 and A320-family of planes that is the equivalent of around 13 years. Boeing, itself, is struggling with a crisis for in-flight blowouts of its 737 Max.

But despite struggles with the global aerospace industry, the European-based company’s North American operations were in a celebratory mood on Thursday. During an event in Mobile, officials with the company and with the city and county expressed optimism toward continued growth while embracing a past that has seen the once-forgotten Brookley Aeroplex transformed into Alabama’s aerospace manufacturing hub.

“You know, 10 years ago we never built an airplane in Mobile,” said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, during a commemoration of Airbus’ 500th aircraft made at the Mobile manufacturing plant since it opened in 2016. “Today, we’re delivering the 500th airplane out of this facility. That is amazing.”

Expansion awaits

The celebration comes as construction work continues on the sprawling Airbus campus. The Mobile facility is the company’s largest North American presence and officials anticipate it being the fourth-largest final assembly operation for commercial aircraft assembly in the world.

The biggest on-site activity involves the company’s third final assembly plant, expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2025, and rolling out its first completed aircraft sometime later next year.

The third FAL will be the second assembly line for the Airbus A320-series of aircraft. The 500th plane made in Mobile was a Delta Air Lines A321neo. Delta has added more than 130 U.S. produced A320 and A220-family of aircraft to its fleet since the Mobile plant began assembling them.

Related: When will Airbus truly transform Mobile?

Daryl Taylor, senior-vice president of commercial aircraft operations for Airbus in the U.S. and the general manager of the Mobile facility, said the expansion work, when fully completed by mid-2026, will create an approximately 3 million square-foot aerospace campus at Brookley. The company continues to increase the number of its employees at the facility, with close to 2,400 workers right now and expectations that another 500 will be added to work at the new assembly line by next year.

The growth in Mobile was highlighted by Taylor, even if the post-pandemic supply chain challenges continue to grip the industry worldwide. The company, in June, lowered its 2024 total delivery target to around 770 airplanes from around 800. It also pushed back a targeted deadline for reaching production of 75 narrow-body airplanes per month to 2027, from 2025 or 2026.

“Earlier this year, we made some decisions as a global (company) to delay the ramp up (of production) slightly due to the supply chain challenges and Mobile is part of that system,” Taylor said. “We don’t see anything specific in Mobile than what we see different across the network. Again, we’re part of a global program. Our production rate is driven by what the overall system is capable of.”

He said that the next 500 planes manufactured in Mobile will come much quicker than the first 500, which took approximately eight years. He said the next 500 planes should be built within a four or five-year time frame.

“We will be doubling our capacity to produce the A320 starting in 2025, and that ramp up will continue into 2027 and 2028,” Taylor said.

Long-term issues

He said there was no longer-term plan for future expansion.

“I think we have enough expansion going on today to keep ourselves busy,” Taylor said. “We have a commitment to get this expansion in place, get the facility running at its fully capacity. To do that, we’re recruiting a lot of people and getting them trained. It’s an important step in this process to build the right competence and capability in the organization. Once we stand to deliver on that plan, we’ll see what’s next.”

Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with AeroDynamic Advisory, said while there isn’t much Airbus can do in the “short-term” in Mobile other than focus on gearing up its new FAL, in the long-term, it needs to be planning to address production challenges.

“In the longer run, given likely volumes, Airbus might well decide to increase its manufacturing footprint and create additional capacity,” he said.

Taylor said that Mobile will play a role in long-term future growth plans for Airbus, which houses its largest assembly lines in Toulouse, France and Hamburg, Germany. It also builds commercial aircraft in Tianjin, China; and Mirabel, Canada.

“As future (growth) strategies are identified and thought about, Mobile is considered,” Taylor said. “Mobile is a key part of that.”

Workforce, education

Taylor said he is confident in the workforce development efforts Airbus USA has established within Mobile and Baldwin counties, which includes a growing apprenticeship program aimed at luring non-aerospace workers into the industry.

FlightWorks Alabama and Airbus are teamed up to provide science, tech, engineering, art, and math programs to elementary school students in Mobile and Baldwin counties. FlightWorks has its buildings located within a short walking distance of the Airbus manufacturing plant.

In Baldwin County, school officials opened the new $100 million Baldwin Preparatory Academy in Loxley on Thursday. According to school spokesperson Chasity Riddick, Airbus is engaged with Baldwin Prep., regarding training high school students.

Incentives approved last year by Mobile city and county officials link approximately $5 million toward hiring Mobile County residents to work at Airbus.

Related: Bishop State presents $30 million, state-of-the-art manufacturing center

“We’re committed to hiring in this region,” Taylor said, adding that programs offered by AIDT, FlightWorks, Bishop State Community College and elsewhere had helped increase the number of apprenticeships throughout the Airbus system.

“We have success in hiring in this region,” he said.

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