Airbus flies the flag as Mobile workers start A320 ramp-up

摘要

With the grand opening of the Airbus factory in Mobile, Alabama on 14 September, two manufacturers are again producing commercial aircraft in the USA for the first time since McDonnell Douglas merged into Boeing in 1997. Though production volumes still heavily favour Boeing's output in Seattle and, more recently, North Charleston, South Carolina, Airbus can now stand on US soil as a major manufacturer of one of the world's most visible products - the A320 aircraft family. "Airbus is now truly an American manufacturer," says Airbus president and chief executive Fabrice Bregier, addressing an audience of local and state digni-tiaries, employees and press gathered inside Mobile's "Hangar 9" final assembly hall.