EADS’ plan to open a manufacturing plant in Alabama may be on hold, but the company still is increasing its presence in the state.
Airbus announced that it has hit the 100-employee mark at its Mobile, Ala., engineering center.
“Without question the Mobile Engineering Center is a source of pride within Airbus. … The engineering center is an excellent example of what a Gulf Coast aerospace corridor can offer in terms of jobs, skills, knowledge and expertise,” said Allan McArtor, chairman-Airbus Americas, in a statement.
EADS, the parent company of Airbus, together with Northrop Grumman, had planned to assemble its A330-based tanker for the U.S. Air Force in Alabama. In early September, the Pentagon called off the tanker competition until the next administration takes office. EADS also had planned to move some A330 Freighter work to the Alabama location.
McArtor told Mobile’s Press-Register that Airbus will add another 50 engineers to the facility and that it is still studying A330F assembly in Alabama.
“The business case just isn’t there yet,” he told the newspaper. “We’ll see what happens. One reason we’re so committed to Mobile is that we like Brookley a lot. Our people like the community and are happy there. We expect to do more in Mobile and be a positive force for development.”
Alabama isn’t the only place that Airbus is growing.
Airbus recently opened its first assembly line in China. For more on that, read this Bloomberg piece.
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