Airbus has now built 500 airliners at its U.S. manufacturing plant in Mobile, Alabama, since the first delivery was made from the facility in 2016. On Thursday, the European aerospace group marked the completed assembly of an A321neo narrowbody, which is to be delivered to Delta Air Lines.
Currently, Airbus operates two final assembly lines at the Mobile site, and they are used to build A320 and A220 airliners. The company said it is now building a third line and intends to open this in 2025 as part of a plan to ramp up production in the U.S., creating 1,000 more jobs in the process.
Airbus already employs 2,400 people in and around Mobile, including some engaged in engineering and its U.S. space and defense facilities. According to the company, it has more than 2,000 U.S. suppliers across 40 states and supports more than 275,000 American jobs through annual spending in the country of around $15 billion.
Since it took delivery of its first U.S.-produced A320 in 2016, Delta has received more than 130 additional aircraft from the Mobile facility. These also include A220s, for which the final assembly line opened in 2020.
“Delta has been part of many milestones at Airbus in Mobile, including taking delivery of the site’s 15th and 100th produced A320 family aircraft and the first U.S.-built A220 aircraft,” said the airline’s vice president for fleet, Kristen Bojko. “We appreciate the ongoing partnership with Airbus and its team in Mobile who help us provide a premium travel experience on state-of-the-art, fuel-efficient aircraft assembled and delivered in the U.S.A.”
Airbus' other current production narrowbody customers in the U.S. include Breeze Airways, JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.