A phrase commonly heard in the US when discussing matters to do with aviation was “if it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going”. Those few words neatly encapsulated long-held parochialism and suspicion of overseas aerospace suppliers, with an unhealthy dash of xenophobia mixed in.
Fortunately, over time, things have changed. Nowadays it is recognised that foreign aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus are capable of producing aircraft that are every bit as good as those made by Boeing in Seattle, and that competition improves customer choice.
Winning orders
This sea-change in attitude has led to Airbus winning several multimillion-dollar orders from American airlines such as Delta, United and JetBlue, with no adverse passenger reaction.
Emboldened by this opening of market opportunity, Airbus has made a real statement of intent by constructing its first US-based production facility, in Mobile, Alabama. The $600-million site will produce four A320 single-aisle aircraft per month from 2017, with that number eventually rising to eight planes per month to meet strong demand.
The Mobile factory serves two main purposes. Firstly, it allows Airbus to ramp up production of the A320, which is now produced at its plants in Hamburg in Germany, Toulouse in France, and Tianjin in China. Those facilities are bursting at the seams, and the Mobile factory brings much needed capacity. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the new plant gives Airbus closer links to the US, which is still the world’s biggest market for single-aisle aircraft. It also allows Airbus to claim that its planes are ‘made in America’ – and that still means something to US airlines, which are expected to swallow Mobile’s entire output each year.
Charles Champion, Airbus’ executive vice-president of engineering, explains the rationale behind the setting up of the Mobile plant. “We have got to be close to our customers,” he says. “This global expansion started in China and now we are here in the US. It will help us grow our market here. Our customers are excited that
we are assembling aircraft on US soil.”
But in a truly globalised market, does it really matter where planes are actually made? “Our US customers appreciate it. When they select an aircraft, they don’t always look exactly where it is manufactured. But they are proud to take an aircraft out of the US,” he says.
However, one worry is that increasing expansion in the US could mean a lessening commitment to European plants in places such as Broughton, in north Wales. Champion refutes that suggestion. “The closer we are to our customers, the more we sell aircraft. That’s what happened in China. So overall, the activity of the workers who are assembling the wings in Broughton is going to be higher.”
The rise in activity has already started, he says. “Already we have increased the rate up to 50 A320s a month – nobody would have dreamt of that a few years ago. We have thousands of planes in the order book; there is plenty of work ahead, both in Europe but also in the US.”
By planting a flag so firmly in American soil, Airbus is challenging Boeing in its own backyard. But Champion seems unconcerned about how its expansionism is perceived by its US arch-rival. “I don’t worry about Boeing – I worry that my customers are happy,” he says with a smile.
Previous plans
Mobile was originally selected by Airbus as the location for a military aircraft facility that would have built air tankers based on the A330 for the US Air Force. The town is well placed, strategically, with good transport links and a saltwater port. Airbus won the tanker bid, initially, but the decision was controversially overturned after outrage in Capitol Hill over a foreign supplier being chosen to produce planes for the US military. Airbus, and Mobile, were left high and dry.
But the European company had formed strong links with Mobile’s trade officials and politicians, and it always said that it would one day be back to start building aircraft in the town. The new A320 assembly facility has proved Airbus to be true to its word.
The layout of the Mobile plant is based on the company’s existing A320 family assembly lines in Hamburg and Tianjin. Overall, the supply stream for components will remain mostly the same. Fully equipped sections of aircraft, including the wings from the UK, will be shipped by sea and road to the plant. Meanwhile, other major components will be packaged at Airbus’ logistics centre in Hamburg, before being sent by ship or air to the US.
The first thing you notice about the new plant is its sheer size – it’s located on a 470,000m2 site, comprising two gigantic production halls, making it visible for miles around. The facility will be responsible for the assembly of all big aircraft components, resulting in the production of a complete aircraft. In Mobile, those aircraft will be the A319, A320 and A321, all single-aisle with identical wingspan and fuselage diameters, but with different fuselage lengths. This set-up allows seat number flexibility for different airline customers.
All the main component assemblies – fuselage, wings, and the vertical and horizontal tailplanes – arrive from Airbus’ European plants via cargo ships on journeys that will take around 20 days. Smaller, US-produced systems and components will arrive via air or land transport.
Stagewise production
The main production hall is set up with clear flow lines, allowing partially assembled aircraft sections to move forward station by station. The final assembly starts with the fuselage, with the forward and aft sections joined using more than 3,000 rivets.
Both fuselage sections are supplied fully equipped, with all tubes, ducts and cables for electrical, hydraulic and air-
conditioning systems already installed, and waiting to be connected subsequent to assembly of the two sections. Because of their size, lavatories and galleys are pushed into the still open fuselage sections, that are already fitted with floors, before the sections are joined.
The next step is the installation of the parallel electrical system and of the cargo loading system.
After completion of the work and a thorough quality check, the entire fuselage – the so-called ‘cigar’ – is winched forward to the next station by overhead crane. Here, high-precision electronic instruments are used to position the wings on the fuselage, and then the rivet holes are drilled with the aid of templates and automatic drilling units. Fuselage and wings are separated again, cleaned, and sealing compound is applied, before they are then rejoined with an accuracy of 0.1mm. Each of the wings, weighing 4.5 tonnes, requires the drilling of 1,200 rivets.
Once the wing-to-fuselage connection is completed, the landing gear installation
is checked, and then the pylons carrying the engines are assembled.
When the onboard computer has been installed, the aircraft is supplied with electrical power for the first time. A plug is connected to the aircraft, and with ‘electrical power on’, system testing can begin. The assembly of the main and nose landing gear is also carried out at this station. Then, supported on its wheels for the first time, the aircraft moves to the next station.
This stage is where the aircraft is fitted with the vertical and horizontal stabilisers and the tail cone. In addition, the inner flaps and the main landing gear doors are installed. The aircraft nose, the radome, is also brought together at this point. As electromagnetic waves from the antenna must penetrate the radome, it is made of maintenance-free composite material and weighs just 44lb (19.96kg). The weather radar and the antenna for the aircraft’s suite of sophisticated navigation instruments are installed behind the radome.
Next is the auxiliary power unit. Later, it will supply the aircraft with electrical and hydraulic power and hot air as long as the engines are not running. The auxiliary power unit is also needed to start the engines. Inside the aircraft, cabin installation begins here. This process requires the fitting out of overhead stowage compartments, service channels, side wall and ceiling panels, door and door-frame linings, the cockpit safety door and cargo compartment linings.
Extensive tests are also carried out at this station. The air-conditioning system is put through its paces and the mechanical flight controls are tested, as is the tail cone. The first ‘power on’ for the hydraulic system also happens here.
Cabin takes shape
The final assembly-line stop is the dock station. Here, the aircraft’s cabin begins to take shape: the seats are installed and the floor is covered with carpet. The main tasks in the dock are the function and systems tests. The landing gear is lowered. The lighting, audio and video systems and cabin pressurisation systems are tested.
At this stage the assembled aircraft leaves the facility, ready for the paint shop. The last stop is the flight line hangar. The cabin is completely furnished, and the quality inspection of the cabin and cockpit is carried out by the customer.
The engines and the engine cowlings are now installed, being hoisted up with a special crane and attached to the pylons with nine bolts. All connections between the aircraft and the engines, including electrical power, compressed air, flight control and de-icing systems, are made.
The aircraft is then prepared for handover to the customer, with final payment made on acceptance. Flight testing is carried out, and engine run-ups performance and taxi-ing and braking tests completed. Only after a batch of sign-off tests are completed is the aircraft given the go-ahead for its first flight.
The aim is to get the Mobile factory up to speed, producing four aircraft a month, by 2017. But this rate could be doubled, with limited capital expenditure, to eight aircraft per month, should demand dictate. The Mobile site is surrounded by empty land, and Airbus hasn’t ruled out one day putting another programme into the facility.
Ironically, it is a British engineer, Barry Eccleston, president of Airbus Americas, who is ultimately responsible for the success of the Mobile plant. Eccleston, who was educated at Loughborough University and started his career as a flight test engineer at Rolls-Royce, says the Mobile plant has been modelled on Airbus’ existing A320 facility, and that this provides a template for operational success.
Formula that works
“We are using the same process as we have in Hamburg, which is also what we do in Tianjin in China. We know it works. So we are doing it here. That’s enabled us to be on time, on budget and on quality,” he says. “When the plant is up and running, we will be looking for ways that we can insert new manufacturing technology.”
He says the US workforce have quickly learnt the Airbus way of doing things. “The first job for the 230 people we have here was to go to Hamburg and work on the shopfloor for several months. They were learning the Airbus way of building aeroplanes. They picked it up quickly.”
Eccleston is proud that Airbus has established itself in the US, and thinks it can only benefit sales. “An airline buying process comprises 101 different things. It’s about availability, it’s performance, it’s commercial times, it’s financing. But somewhere in all of that, we think, is the question of whether or not the plane has been ‘made in America’,” he says.
“If it was a dead heat, then historically an airline may have gone with Boeing because only its aeroplanes were ‘made in America’. Now that argument no longer applies.”
Did you know? Airbus' US footprint
Airbus employs a total of 1,400 workers in the US. As well as the Mobile plant, it has a design and engineering centre in Wichita, Kansas, employing around 340 engineers. It also has two sites in Virginia – a sales and marketing office in Herndon and a 24-hour spares centre in Ashburn. Slowly but surely, the company is becoming a truly global player, threatening Boeing’s market share.
Giant paint job
The paint shop at the Mobile facility has been supplied by Irish firm MAAS Aviation. The process starts with docking and preparation of the airframe, including sanding, masking of areas that will not be painted, and surface cleaning. After these steps, the painting process starts with three coatings being applied to the fuselage: primer, top coat – including the airline colours – and a clear coat. Around 250 litres of paint and 15.5 miles (24.9km) of masking tape are used for each plane. The control of air temperature and humidity is crucial. An air-handling unit moves 90,000ft3 (2,548.5m3) of air every minute, with eight air circulations every hour. It takes around six days to paint an A320, but this can run to much longer if the customer’s livery is complex.