Airbus readies new Alabama plant for combat with Boeing on U.S. soil

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Airbus has finished building its Alabama A320-family factory and is installing equipment as it gears up to produce four airplanes monthly by 2017.

This will be just a fraction of the 47 competing model 737s that Boeing (NYSE: BA) plans to be churning out in Renton by then. But the Mobile plant still represents a significant Airbus step onto U.S. soil, directed at U.S. customers and a significant threat to Boeing.

“The primary target and reason for doing it is coming closer to U.S. customers,” said Kristi Tucker, director of communications for Airbus Americas Inc. “But that doesn’t mean it’s limited to U.S. customers.”

Photos of the Mobile plant, at the center of a 116-acre campus, show a 836-foot-long rectangle that will house a single A320 production line, The campus eventually will support 10 structures, housing 1,000 people.

Plans are to build four A320-family models monthly by 2017, possibly rising to eight beyond that, she said. Production will start with A321s, the largest of the A320 line, and will gradually transition to the newer A321neo model.

The A321neos have been selling far better than the competing Boeing 737 Max 9 model. The first Airbus aircraft is to roll out in the second quarter of 2016.

An initial cost advantage for Airbus versus Boeing is that the new plant will be non-union, in a state with lower wages than Washington, but that will be counterbalanced by these factors:

• Boeing has achieved significant economies of scale by clustering all 737 manufacturing in Renton, versus Airbus’ four A320 plants around the world.

• Airbus will be transporting wing and fuselage assemblies from Europe to Mobile by ship, an expense and delay that will add extra costs.

• The Renton workforce is one of the most experienced anywhere. Pat Shanahan, senior VP of airplane programs for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, on Tuesday called Renton “The most efficient airplane factory in the world,” during the visit by Secretary of State John Kerry.

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http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/05/20/airbus-readies-new-alabama-plant-for-combat-with.html?ana=e_du_pub&s=article_du&ed=2015-05-20&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1432166425

Considering the problems Boeing's had with the plane coming out it's non-union plant in North Charleston SC I hardly see this as an advantage for Airbus.