By Jen DiMascio
Airbus executives and Alabama politicians yesterday said that the company would produce commercial freighters in Mobile, as long as its parent, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS),wins a contract from the U.S. Air Force to make aerial refueling tankers on the same production line.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after both EADS with its lead partner Northrop Grumman [NOC] and their competitor Boeing [BA] submitted final bids to the Air Force for the competition worth up to $40 billion.
“The site would be expanded to support the production of up to four aircraft per month, ensuring ready capacity to meet the Air Force’s delivery requirements at no risk, while fulfilling the A330 freighter’s growing order book which is already at 66 aircraft,” according to an EADS statement.
The A330 freighter, the platform on which the EADS KC-30 tanker is based, currently is produced in Toulouse, France.
During a press event in Mobile yesterday, Ralph Crosby, chairman and CEO of EADS North America, said the company’s plan would have a global impact on the aerospace industry. In the future, producing tankers and freighters in Mobile would allow boost the company’s flexibility because it could distribute the cost of production.
In that case, the company could better respond to fluctuations in the number of orders for either the military or commercial industry, he said.
Whether the announcement improves Northrop Grumman’s chances in the tanker competition remains an open question.
The service refuses to comment on when it will award a contract saying that is “source-selection sensitive” information.
State politicians, Gov. Bob Riley (R), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) offered their support for the company’s bid.
“Please note I have no higher priority in my service to you, than to work on this project,” said Sessions, who made a note of his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the fact that Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) serves on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.
“We’ve been working together to try to make this come to fruition,” Sessions said.
In response to the event, Boeing issued a statement saying that moving a production line could add complexity to production and questioning whether governments in Europe would sign off on such a move.
“Overall, we think this move simply highlights the inherent inefficiencies of their production approach relative to ours,” a statement by Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale said.