Airbus coming to Mobile

A news conference will be held Monday in Mobile, Ala., to announce that European aircraft maker Airbus will build an assembly plant for A320neo aircraft in Alabama’s port city. Published reports say the plan calls for an investment of several hundred million dollars to assemble dozens of 150-seat jets each year at Brookley Aeroplex. Airbus president Fabrice Bregier is scheduled to announce the project at a 10 a.m. news conference at the Mobile Convention Center. (Sources: New York Times, Bloomberg via Seattle Times, Mobile Press-Register, 06/27/12) The decision greatly expands an aerospace region that stretches from New Orleans to Northwest Florida. "The entire northern gulf region will benefit from this development, including the Stennis Space Center (Miss.) and New Orleans region," said Charles Beasley, president and CEO of the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology. Airbus parent EADS had planned to build a plant at Brookley to assemble tankers for the Air Force, but Boeing won the contract in February 2011 and is building the planes in Washington state. Mobile officials continued to maintain a close relationship EADS/Airbus after the tanker loss. Mobile is also the home of an Airbus Engineering Center and military aircraft maintenance facility.