First parts arrive for new Airbus plane to be built in Alabama
The first major parts for the Airbus A220 arrived in Mobile. (Airbus)
The first parts of the A220 airplane arrived at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility today at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, a giant reminder that the Port City is about to add a new line of airplanes to its already popular A320 family.
Airbus said the first of the major component assemblies (MCAs), consisting of the aft fuselage and cockpit, arrived by truck in Mobile.
“With the arrival of these assemblies, A220 production in Mobile will shortly become a reality,” said Paul Gaskell, president of Airbus U.S. A220 Inc. “The arrival of these MCAs is taking place almost four years to the day from when our first A320 MCAs arrived. It’s amazing to see how much we’ve grown over that time, and an exciting time for Airbus, Mobile and Alabama. The team has been working very hard over the past year to make this happen, and we’re ready to get started delivering another great aircraft from Mobile.”
The fuselage section and cockpit of the aircraft are the first MCAs to arrive, kicking off a series of arrivals over the next few weeks, including the wings, vertical and horizontal tail planes, tail cones and landing gear.
Assembly of the first Alabama-built A220 is set to begin in the next couple of months, even as construction on some of the A220-specific buildings on the campus continues over the next year.
Airbus said employees for the new A220 production line will return from training in Mirabel, Canada in time for production start. Hiring for A220 and A320 production is ongoing (https://airbususmanufacturing.applicantpro.com/jobs).
The first A220 aircraft delivery is scheduled in 2020.
The arrival of the MCAs to Mobile comes the same week as the 2019 Paris Air Show, where Airbus took large orders for both the A330 and A220 families of airplanes.
