Airbus has announced that it will build a $600 million aircraft manufacturing plant in Mobile Alabama. This is significant news and will open doors to US based commercial airlines to buy more Airbus Aircraft in the future. Alabama is quite good at attracting manufacturing facilities such as Mercedes, Nissan and other automobile manufacturers and is known for their tax incentives and pro-business stance. It is not surprising that Airbus picked Alabama. The Boeing Company has some heavy competition with Airbus in the commercial aviation sector and the future of commercial aviation both in passenger aircraft and cargo or freighters looks bright. The plant is slated to come online and provide many jobs for Alabama residents. Some such as myself feel Mobile is problematic due to Hurricane Season weather although this is a calculated risk for the company in any given season. With most of the other major cities in Alabama having large manufacturing plants such as the Mercedes plant in Tuscaloosa and the large auto manufacturing plants in Montgomery and Birmingham it does make sense that Mobile would be next on the list to get some economical development juice from the state. Mobile Alabama is growing nice and has been moving forward with new housing tracts, retail centers, tourist destination locations and a growing and vibrant middle class. It is all good and good for Mobile. Think on the global competitiveness of the commercial aviation sector. |
