US factory no threat to Filton, says Airbus
BOSSES at aeroplane manufacturer Airbus have moved to quell fears over its announcement it will open its first factory in the US.
There have been concerns at the company's plant in Filton – where more than 4,000 staff are employed – that some of its work is to be moved overseas.
Last year a multi-million-pound contract went to South Korea. The imminent closure of Filton Airfield has added to the disquiet at the plant.
The company has publicly stated that it will be concentrating on the fast-growing markets in the Far East over the next two decades. But senior executives at the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer are adamant that its vital research and development work will remain in Bristol.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
The decision to open a factory in the US is seen as a direct challenge to Airbus's biggest rival, US-owned Boeing. Last year Airbus overtook Boeing as the world's biggest manufacturer.
An Airbus plant in Alabama is due to open in 2016 and will assemble narrow-body A320 aircraft, the company's most popular plane.
The factory is expected to create 1,000 jobs and help the company take "more than a few percentage points" from Boeing, according to Airbus head of sales John Leahy.
Airbus holds 20 per cent of the market for narrow-body jets in the United States, compared with 53 percent of the market worldwide.
Components will still be built in Europe but will be assembled in America.
Airbus is hoping that having a US facility will help it win deals there.
The plant will be only the second Airbus has outside Europe that builds its biggest-selling plane. The other is in China.
Mr Leahy said: "I think we became American with this.
"Even if we have been spending $12 billion a year in the US and have 40 per cent of our procurement in the US that does not quite make you American in the way an assembly line does."
Airbus said the new plant had the potential to create 5,000 jobs for the city of Mobile and surrounding area.
"There is a wave of replacement of aging aircraft and we have the right product for that, the A320neo," Airbus's newly-appointed chief executive Fabrice Bregier said. "So it is clear that producing this aircraft in America is an advantage commercially."
Airbus landed a multi-billion-dollar deal to supply the US Air Force with a fleet of refuelling tankers four years ago – only to have the contract taken away following an outcry from American politicians angry that military planes were not being built in the States.
The deal was seen as the most significant in the aviation sector for a generation and would have safeguarded hundreds of jobs at Filton for several decades. Airbus has been looking to open a factory in America ever since and has been in talks with politicians in various states.
Comments
by Brizz_Tony
Friday, July 06 2012, 10:20PM
“Once the airfield goes, it will no longer look like an aerospace centre. It worries me that we will see houses built on the site that no-one will be able to afford because we lost all the aerospace jobs.
Keep the airfield, and make it a centre for freight, engineering, repairs, whatever - just keep it as a place to do aerospace work.”
by Bert_Hindle
Friday, July 06 2012, 10:23AM
“@ Stompeh:
Just to clarify, the new offices by the A38 are indeed to move 2,500 staff at Filton, but that is only to move their staff from the offices currently on BAE land to their own land - it's not to create new jobs. Also, your assertion that the Filton site is not a factory is incorrect. There is plenty manufacturing that goes on at this site (most of which was taken over by GKN).
There's a very real worry at Filton that the blue-collar workers are seen very much as a second class to the R&D teams, and that there is a risk that future large manufacturing jobs are being put in jeopardy. Blue collar jobs are every bit as important to a local economy as white collar jobs, and most engineers will tell you how important it is to retain the link between design and manufacture in order to maintain quality and excellence, but very little evidence is being shown by local organisations that effort is being put into expanding those roles. If the manufacturing dies out, there is no longer a geographical reason to keep the R&D close by, and it will become the low-cost race to the bottom that we've seen in other tech industries.”
by dtiley
Thursday, July 05 2012, 7:10PM
“@Stompeh
I wouldn't assume anyone/everyone who works at Filton site is not concerned. Plenty are comfortable yes, however others give consideration to the future of their colleagues left in Airbus manufacturing on site, working on the A400M wings specifically.
However, I understand the point you are making, but don't overlook us in fitting, machining, tinsmiths, coppersmiths and all the other trades still left at Filton, along with our thankfully growing apprentice intake.
Filton is still a factory to those left in manufacturing there, in both Airbus and GKN, but what's in a name, we're all in it together for the long term hopefully, and yes, expressing initial optimism that a further lift in sales in the US with this move will underpin the work we still do on site today and give us more for the medium and long term.
Our Unite National Officer Ian Waddell has given his support to this move, so here's to a successful future for ALL on Filton site.
Dave Tiley, Unite Branch Secretary Filton Aerospace Branch SW8001”
by Stompeh
Wednesday, July 04 2012, 10:42PM
“I doubt anyone who actually works at Airbus is concerned. Filton site is NOT a factory! It is a design/testing/customer support site. The addition of an A320 assembly line in America is seen as a great positive step that will increase the company's market share, and, if anything, create more jobs for Filton!
FYI, A320s are already manufactured at 3 sites: Toulouse, Hamburg and somewhere in China.
Airbus are building a new office block to move 2500 staff into at Filton, I'm pretty sure thats a clear indication things are going well!”
by FiltonInsider
Wednesday, July 04 2012, 10:15AM
“It may not be a threat, but this is exactly what Filton is losing. We shouldn't be looking to "stay still", we should be looking to grow. Filton is a vital asset which present opportunities for growth, but we're turning the opportunities down.
Hence we'll lose work elsewhere - as in this Airbus development, the St. Athan stuff, the Cambridge Airport work. All of these provide examples of the sort of work Filton could be attracting. And there are more.”