Mobile, Alabama (dpa) - European-based Airbus is to launch its
invasion into Boeing territory on Monday with the groundbreaking for
construction of its first US plant in Alabama.
The move to grab a larger share of the huge US commercial airline
market from Boeing comes as the US behemoth struggles with its
Dreamliner, grounded due to battery problems.
"We have to be visible in the United States," Airbus chief Fabrice
Bregier declared last summer when the factory plans were announced in
Mobile.
The 600-million-dollar factory will begin producing Airbus's
successful A320 commercial planes by 2015, and plans to produce 40 to
50 of the middle-distance aircraft a year and employ 1,000 people
when fully operational.
"We are convinced that we can take over the US market," Bregier
predicted.
Boeing by far dominates the most important aircraft market in the
world, where people board planes for domestic travel the way
Europeans board trains. Many airlines use only Boeing aircraft, such
as the huge domestic airline Southwest, which has nearly 700 Boeing
jets.
In comparison, only 1,100 Airbus jets are in use across the whole
country, Airbus has said.
Airbus wants a larger piece of the market, and anticipates that in
the next 20 years, US airlines will need to buy 5,300 new planes.
Boeing anticipates an even greater demand.
The most popular planes in US passenger transport are those with
100 to 200 seats - such as the Airbus A320 or Boeing's 737.
Airbus hopes that producing planes in the US will break Boeing's
hold on the market. The heads of several US airlines have expressed
positive anticipation over the new plant. In addition, by building in
the US, Airbus will avoid the risk of fluctuating currency
conversions.
Airbus has apparently studied carefully the success of other
foreign firms in the US that have built factories here. The best
example is the success of Japanese and German car makers, which have
robbed Detroit's Big Three of market share. Or Siemens, which has
been praised twice by President Barack Obama in speeches.
In Mobile, Airbus is building the plant facilities and a runway.
The 1,000 employees will join another 1,000 already working as
trainers, maintenance and other roles supporting the current Airbus
aircraft in the US.
The production in Alabama could also open the door to another
important client: the US military.
Seven years ago, Airbus agreed it would build a factory in Mobile
if it was awarded the 35-billion-dollar contract to build refueling
planes for Air Force tankers. That contract went instead to Boeing,
after years of arguments and challenges that Boeing was being given
an unfair advantage.
The contract decision added tension to decade-long trade disputes
between the US and Europe over subsidies and other unfair advantages
for Boeing and Airbus. The World Trade Organization ruled that both
Boeing and Airbus received improper subsidies from their governments.
Airbus built an engineering facility in Mobile after losing the
contract, but did not move forward with plans for a commercial
airline factory until July 2012.
Boeing's lithium-ion battery problems involve overheating and
short-circuiting problems used in part to boost the Dreamliner's fuel
efficiency. The grounding of its 49 passenger jets in use around the
world was ordered in January after a battery caught fire and another
melted on the planes.
Alabama is a right-to-work state, meaning labor unions cannot
force workers to join or pay union dues.
