Governor Kay Ivey joined Airbus officials, Mobile leaders and education professionals at a community event to celebrate the aerospace company’s new growth plans at its Alabama manufacturing facility.
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Airbus’ latest expansion project calls for the addition of a third final assembly line, or FAL, at its Mobile factory to support increased production of its A320 Family of single-aisle passenger aircraft.
During Monday’s event at Bishop State Community College, Airbus outlined plans to add 1,000 new jobs over the next several years to its workforce at the Mobile manufacturing facility, which today totals around 1,200.
Last week, Airbus announced plans to ramp up global production of A320 Family jets, including the addition of the new 350,000 square-foot FAL in Mobile. Details about the new jobs at the Alabama facility were not released at that time.
To facilitate Airbus’ hiring plans, Alabama workforce development and education organizations are collaborating on new recruitment and training initiatives to build out the jobs pipeline, said Ed Castile, director of AIDT and deputy secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
Castile said AIDT plans to expand its Aviation Training Center at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, a 36,500-square-foot facility that opened in 2014 specifically to help Airbus get production up and running.
AIDT is also expanding apprenticeship programs and supporting Airbus training initiatives at Flight Works Alabama, including FlightPath9, We Build It Better and aviation dual enrollment at area schools, he added.
Flight Works Alabama is an aerospace education center located near the Airbus facility that aims to inspire future aviation workers across the Mobile region. The 15,000-square-foot facility, which features more than 40 high-tech exhibits, opened in August 2020.
Flight Works also directs the FlightPath9 program that targets high school seniors in the Mobile community with a desire to work in aerospace. We Build It Better is an innovative learning program that provides classroom kits and interactive techniques designed to help instructors expand students’ creative capacity and encourage discoveries.
Airbus produced the first Alabama-built A320 aircraft in 2015, and it launched production of the A220 single-aisle passenger jet in Mobile during 2019, with a new assembly line specifically for the A220 opening the next year.
Airbus has invested over $1 billion in its Alabama manufacturing facility. ■