The 50th Airbus A220 recently rolled off the final assembly line at the OEM’s plant in Mobile – a notable milestone for the Alabama facility.
Mobile delivered its first A220 – to Delta Air Lines – in October 2020, in the teeth of the pandemic. All aircraft from the Mobile final assembly line go to U.S. customers – Delta, JetBlue and Breeze. That will remain the case for the future, although that situation could change depending on where new orders originate.
Mobile, together with its sister-plant in Mirabel, Montreal, is in the midst of a production ramp-up to four aircraft a month. At present, the build rate “is hovering at around half of that,” said the company’s A220 head of program in the U.S., Vicente Iglesias.
“It’s evolving from day to day as we improve our industrial processes.”
There are around 600 people working on the A220 at the Alabama site. Finding sufficient numbers of appropriately trained staff, which is an increasing problem for the aerospace sector in many parts of the world has been “relatively manageable” so far.
This has been partly because of the presence of several other aviation companies in the state, together with word-of-mouth recommendations attracting staff once initial employees came on board.
Like all major companies in aviation, Airbus’s Mobile plant is continuing to suffer from supply chain problems. Most industry analysts say that these will remain at least until the end of the year, and probably well into 2024.
Airbus’s response has been to keep close links with its suppliers – from Tier One companies to those responsible for even minor components, Iglesias said. This is partly because major contributors to the aircraft have their own supply chain problems among Tier Two and Three companies.
Airbus will, if necessary, step in to help suppliers improve their plans or processes.
In April, Breeze Airways’ president Tom Doxey told the CAPA Americas Aviation Summit in Ontario, California, that his company was pushing aircraft manufacturers to help operators manage delays so they could minimize disruptions to their businesses. That meant getting early warning of possible delivery delays of aircraft before personnel had been put in place to fly and maintain them.
It’s an approach endorsed by Iglesias, who voiced the importance of keeping in touch with customers on the deliveries, even if that has led to some difficult conversations when delays have arisen. “We’re sharing realistic delivery times with our customers, even if, in past times, it’s sometimes been bad news for some,” he said.
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