Airbus has begun manufacturing the A220 at at its Mobile, Alabama-based production facility.
The work begins following worker's recent return from on-the-job training in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, where the A220 programme and primary final assembly line are located.
“The expansion of our commercial aircraft production in Mobile to a second product line—with 400 additional jobs to support it—further solidifies Airbus’ standing as a truly global aircraft manufacturer, and confirms without a doubt that Airbus is an important part of America’s manufacturing landscape,” said Airbus Americas chairman & CEO C. Jeffrey Knittel. “With Mobile, and our production network in Asia, Canada and Europe, we have strategically created a worldwide industrial base to better serve our customers.”
Construction on the main A220 flowline hangar and other support buildings for the new A220 began at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley at the beginning of this year.
Airbus is producing the first few aircraft within some current A320 family buildings and newly-built support hangars. The first US-made A220 – an A220-300 destined for Delta Air Lines – is scheduled for delivery in Q3 2020.
By the middle of next decade, the facility will produce between 40 and 50 A220 aircraft per year.
The A220 uses Pratt & Whitney’s latest-generation PW1500G geared turbofan engines, which the company says, offers 20% lower fuel burn per seat compared to previous generation aircraft.
The A220 offers the performance of larger single-aisle aircraft. With an order book of 551 aircraft as of end of June 2019, the A220 has all the credentials to win the lion’s share of the 100-to-150-seat aircraft market, estimated to represent 7,000 aircraft over the next 20 years.