A new Delta Air Lines A321neo has become the 500th aircraft built by Airbus in the United States (US).
The 500th Airbus jet was produced at the planemaker’s manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama, which first opened in 2015.
The milestone was marked at a special ceremony on August 8, 2024, with Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, local business leaders and Airbus executives in attendance.
During the ceremony, Airbus North America Chairman and CEO Robin Hayes said: “We’re here to celebrate 500 airplanes, and I can’t believe how quickly that has happened.”
According to Fox 10, Hayes told staff at the event that the facility launched with only 350 employes before growing to over 2,000 today.
Our 500th Alabama-born baby! #TeamAirbus in Mobile today celebrated the 500th aircraft produced at our U.S. Manufacturing Facility — a bright and shiny @Delta #A321neo! Congrats to every #TeamAirbus member responsible for this stellar milestone! pic.twitter.com/XSfFflDrFi
— Airbus in the U.S. (@AirbusInTheUS) August 8, 2024
Plans for a third assembly line at the facility were announced in May 2022, with 1,000 additional vacances needing to be filled for the opening next year.
Once opened, the Mobile Airbus base will become the fourth largest final assembly line of any commercial manufacturer.
Senior Vice President of Commercial Aircraft, Daryl Taylor, who also attended the ceremony, said: “This 500th aircraft milestone belongs to our Airbus employees. Their relentless passion and hard work made this achievement possible. Our journey has also been supported every step of the way by our community, and by our customers who have put their trust in Airbus.”
Taylor added: “We look forward to continuing to build safe, quality aircraft for our customers in the U.S. and Latin America.”
According to Airbus, the Mobile assembly line currently builds A319, A320 and A321 aircraft, producing 60 aircraft annually.
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said: “Ten years ago, we had never even built an airplane in Mobile. Today, we’ll be delivering the 500th airplane out of this facility. And that is amazing.”
