Airbus to assemble A320 in USA

Don’t be ridiculous.. Major components will obviously come from the US.

Don’t be silly, I was referring to airframe sections, which Airbus says will come from Europe. No coincidence the new factory is near a port. :rolleyes:
The plan was always to use the factory for final assembly for the USAF tankers/freighters and now the 320s.

I assumed we were all fairly knowledgeable here and knew that many engines, avionics and subsystems come from the US.

I would expect so…but it might not be enough to be measured.
Especially since the major components for the USA line will be built in Europe.

Don’t be ridiculous.. Major components will obviously come from the US. This is the essence of this strategy .The US has by far the biggest and most efficient aerospace supplier industry in the world and Airbus will exploit the potential.

I reckon more than half of all components will be delivered directly from US suppliers to the plant in Alabama. In case of airliners opting for Pratt&Whitneys pure power engine,the US content could easily increase to 60-70%.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/137566/airbus-looks-to-double-us-supply-chain.html

I can’t remember where I read it, but I recall seeing a number of years ago that Honda automobiles assembled in the U.S. were of higher quality than the Hondas assembled in Japan.

I would suppose those statistics vary over time.

Maybe a dumb question, but will there be any difference in build quality between a European assembled airbus, a US assembled airbus or a Chinese assembled airbus?

In the auto industry cars are build all over the place. And you often hear about varying quality standards. For instance the Mexican build Volkswagens are considered inferior to the German build Volkswagen, even though they are the same models. Would the same apply to aviation?

I would expect so…but it might not be enough to be measured.
Especially since the major components for the USA line will be built in Europe.
(I don’t know, are the Chinese jets also built from outsourced sections?)

It would be interesting to see car company figures…I’m pretty sure they know because of internal quality audits based on warranty work and repairs.

Maybe a dumb question, but will there be any difference in build quality between a European assembled airbus, a US assembled airbus or a Chinese assembled airbus?

In the auto industry cars are build all over the place. And you often hear about varying quality standards. For instance the Mexican build Volkswagens are considered inferior to the German build Volkswagen, even though they are the same models. Would the same apply to aviation?

I’ve once been told that the Fokker assembled F-16s are build to a higher standard then the Lockheed build ones. Not sure if this is true though, the story was told by a former Fokker employee who might have been just a tiny little bit biased.

Correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t Iberia about 1/3 the size of LH, and isn’t the Spanish investment/ownership in Airbus a small fraction of the German investment/ownership of Airbus?

I guess I have a hard time equating Iberia and Deutsch Lufthansa.

You’re the one who made the generalisation, not me :rolleyes:

But Iberia haven’t ordered the A380, have they? Unless IAG are going to move some over from the BA order.

Correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t Iberia about 1/3 the size of LH, and isn’t the Spanish investment/ownership in Airbus a small fraction of the German investment/ownership of Airbus?

I guess I have a hard time equating Iberia and Deutsch Lufthansa.

as a Euro-carrier, they couldn’t NOT buy the A380

But Iberia haven’t ordered the A380, have they? Unless IAG are going to move some over from the BA order.

An American assembly plant also gives some protection againt currency fluctuation between the Euro and the Dollar.

In the early days of the A320 the strong European currencies caused considerable financial problems.

So I don’t think it is all about the labour force or having a stronger prescence in the US. It is probably based on sound commercial reasoning

Thats a good point. Lufthansa Tecnik is certainly a large and growing entity, and a valuable resource for the mother ship, LH.

However, it seems somewhat backwards to let the MRO drive the airline, whose core business is carriage of people and freight. I’m not sure I buy the argument that they bought both for LH Technik…….IMHO geo-politik played a big part……..as a Euro-carrier, they couldn’t NOT buy the A380, but they probably wanted to limit the total number, and still maintain status as an important Boeing customer.

Symon: Agree that the airlines care more about the economics/size/etc than new or rehash design, but can’t see quoting LH as an example. IMHO ordering both 748 and a380 is ridiculous and could only have been done for political reasons. No other airline in the world has ordered both, and LH needs can’t be THAT unique.

It has been pointed out to me in the past that it is good for Lufthansa Technik if Lufthansa have the aircraft…

Since Technik will support it – other airlines will roll up for maintenance support.

So, the airline might not be optimised as well as it could, but overall the group make more out of it. Wheels within wheels I guess…

Symon: Agree that the airlines care more about the economics/size/etc than new or rehash design, but can’t see quoting LH as an example. IMHO ordering both 748 and a380 is ridiculous and could only have been done for political reasons. No other airline in the world has ordered both, and LH needs can’t be THAT unique.

What a ridiculous statement. Firstly, the 737 MAX is not completely new, it is an improved / modified version of older designs. Secondly, aircraft like the 737-7/8/900 were modified versions of old designs but sold extremely well.

Airlines will primarily choose aircraft based on payload / range / cost etc, not because the aircraft is a completely new design or not. Yes, new designs usually offer high payload and range for low costs, but modified versions of existing aircraft can also compete with these.

Look at what Lufthansa have done: purchased the A380 and the 747-8i to meet capacity / range requirements.

Probably depends on slot availability.

IMO – I think the 320NEO will be a better plane by most useable measures than 737MAX – mostly due to the bigger engine.

However, limited delivery slots will force airlines to take the MAX (and maybe more importantly for the longer term future; the CSeries).

In the end ,737 MAX will beat the 320 NEO.. The reason for this is very simple actually.. People are interested in something which is completely new ! they are not interested in an improved or modified version of an old design.

Because of the same reason, the passenger version of 747-8 is doomed.
It will earn its money with freighter because it has no competitor in the market . When an airliner needs a big aircraft with 400+ passengers they will buy the A-380 because its a new creation, pure and simple.

Any chance European trade unions will be looking to “punish” Airbus in some way?

Probably.

Would only speed up the move IMO.

“Sooo, tell us more about this new assembly plant in Alabama…..”
(as a scarfaced, bespeckled interrogator takes out his nunchuck looking coat hanger) 😉

Exaggerated German accent….That’s because they know how to take care of troublemakers….:D

Seriously…But that doesn’t seem to be the case in France.

Mercedes-Benz seem to only have minor problems with the unions.

http://www.thelocal.de/money/20091201-23641.html

Getting back on topic…

I see the real story here being Airbus looking for non-union labour.
Any chance European trade unions will be looking to “punish” Airbus in some way?
It’s no secret unions have enormous political power, could they put pressure on politicians and governments (who hold large shares of Airbus stock and have some influence in banks that provide loans to the firm)?

If push comes to shove, might the next labour agreement with the unions insure that the USA facility is kept as small as possible?

Hey Merlin….hate to bust your bubble but the CF6-80C2 beats the crappy PW4000 in both fuel consumption AND reliability…..these are well known facts in the industry.