Industry Airbus delivers 50th aircraft from U.S. factory in Alabama

MSN 7943 is an Airbus A321, designated for Delta Air Lines. Members of the Delta Air Lines delivery team, as well as facility´s employees celebrated this occasion. Less than two years ago, after Airbus delivered the first A320 family aircraft from Mobile (Alabama), the 50^th delivery now marks another milestone for the company’s young American history.

Airbus Americas Chairman Allan McArtor said: “The 50th delivery is a real point of pride not only for our team here in Mobile, but also for tens of thousands of employees from the hundreds of U.S. suppliers that contribute to these aircraft. We said in 2012 that we were going to build Airbus aircraft in the U.S. for our U.S.-based customers. We delivered the first aircraft in 2016, and today we stand here celebrating the 50th. We’ve met our originally announced schedule, and we’ve fulfilled the commitment we made to our customers, our suppliers across the country, and this Gulf Coast community.

Daryl Taylor, Vice President & General Manager of the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility added: “Team Mobile’s hard work and dedication have brought us to this milestone. We’ve built a great team who together are building great aircraft, meeting challenges head-on and continually seeking ways to improve.”

Besides delivering the 50th U.S. build aircraft, Airbus also meets its targeted goal of delivering four A320 family aircraft a month. In the industry, this is known as “rate four”.

Last week, Delta Air Lines has announced to order 100 Airbus A321neo aircraft, plus 100 additional options. Most of the aircraft will be delivered from the U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama.

Airbus now has four production places around the world. Alongside the American location, Airbus produces in Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany and in Tianjin, China. In October 2017, the first A320neo aircraft was delivered from the Chinese factory.