Manufacturer set to establish foothold in USA to take advantage of home-grown talent and enable 24h design
Airbus's moves to increase US A380 content continue with theannouncement of plans to establish a wing-design centre in Wichita, Kansas. Honeywell has been selected to supply the airliner's flight management system.
The design office will open in the second quarter of next year and employ 60 people, mainly structures and stress engineers, half of them Airbus employees and the rest contract workers. The office will operate as an extension of the European manufacturer's wing- design centre at Airbus UK in Filton, enabling work to continue "round the clock", Airbus says.
The manufacturer cites the time difference and access to aerospace engineering talent as reasons for establishing a satellite design office, but increasing its US presence was another factor in the decision. Although the Wichita workforce is small compared with the 2,000 engineers working on the project in the UK, with 150 more to join in the next few months, Airbus has no plans to expand the US centre further. Rival Boeing already has design centres in Russia and Spain.
When it began looking for a site earlier this year for its satellite design office, Wichita quickly emerged as a leading candidate, Airbus says. The US Midwestern city is home to a number of aircraft firms, including Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna and Raytheon, some of which have announced substantial lay-offs in recent months. Access to a pool of available engineers was a factor in the decision, Airbus adds. The decision may lead to A380 wing manufacturing as well as design work being sent to the USA, although Airbus emphasises that this decision is yet to be made.
Having failed to secure a major US risk-sharing partner, Airbus has announced several North American suppliers for the programme. The selection of Honeywell over a Thales/Smiths Aerospace team to supply the flight management system is seen as a key victory for the US company.
So far, Airbus has awarded A380 contracts to several US suppliers, including Goodrich (main gear and evacuation slides), Hamilton Sundstrand (air generation system), Eaton (hydraulic power generation system), Parker (fuel measurement and management system) and Rockwell Collins (avionics Ethernet switch). Rolls-Royce has also selected a number of US partners for the Trent 900 engine programme to power the A380.
Source: Flight International
