Airbus to Expand in Alabama

In the United States, Airbus is known as the biggest competitor of the multinational aerospace corporation Boeing. Although the French-based manufacturer has yet to catch up with Boeing, Airbus is planning to spend $600 million on a new facility in the United States. Market experts are expecting the plant to give a boost to the local economy and revitalize the country’s ailing manufacturing industry.

The facility, which will produce commercial airliners, is slated for construction next year. It will be built on a former Air Force base in Mobile, Ala., which is currently home to an existing Airbus manufacturing facility.
Airbus established the Mobile Engineering Center in 2007 with approximately 35 employees. To cover new product development and alterations to present models, the staff grew by almost 630 percent in five years. The facility currently employs 220 people.
The new plant will generate up to 1,000 permanent jobs and 3,000 temporary jobs during the construction period. By the year 2017, it is expected to produce 40 to 50 planes per year. The facility could help employ recent graduates of the aviation field who have been struggling to find work.

Though Airbus’s decision to outsource manufacturing may have a positive impact on the U.S. economy, the company’s long-term strategy relies on a U.S. manufacturing presence to compete for the business of American airline companies. There is also speculation that the Mobile facility will allow Airbus’ parent company, EADS, to compete with Boeing for U.S. defense contracts.
This expansion to the U.S. is not without controversy. The decision to outsource to Mobile, Ala. was informed, in part, by a lower wage standard and a lack of union presence. Labor unions have successfully exerted control in the U.S. airplane manufacturing industry for many years, especially in Boeing’s Seattle hub. Alabama’s laws may give Airbus a competitive edge by allowing the company to take advantage of low-wage labor.

The move to the U.S. is also raising a fuss overseas.
In response to the European debt crisis, leaders of French parties have been promising to penalize companies that choose industrial offshoring over domestic manufacturing. Without the approval of the French government, Airbus would not have been able to fulfill its outsourcing plans. Because Airbus is controlled by French and German shareholders – both public and private – it is especially sensitive to politics.

Nadia Jones is an education blogger for an online education website and a freelance writer on all things academia. Nadia uses the written word to share her knowledge on accredited online college education and the latest news in the educational world. Though Nadia’s mind is always preoccupied with topics of education, she spends her downtime volunteering with middle school students and pitching for her adult softball team. She can be reached at [email protected].

Airbus to Expand in Alabama is a post from: Aviation news – Planegrazy

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