Mayor Jones, City Council Celebrate Airbus Engineering Center Opening

Feb 26th, 2007

Mayor Sam Jones, members of the Mobile City Council and other local leaders cut the ribbon on a major project at Brookley Field with the opening of the Airbus Engineering Center. Mayor Jones was joined by U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner, Mobile County Commission President Juan Chastang and Bay Haas of the Mobile Airport Authority for the unveiling of the state-of-the-art center.

“We are so happy that Airbus has made such a substantial commitment in Mobile,” said Mayor Jones. “And we’re not done. We’re going to be having a few more of these ribbon cutting ceremonies in the near future.”

Airbus along with parent company EADS and Northrop Grumman are competing for a contract to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. If they win the contract, they will be constructing the planes at Brookley Field. The engineering center, which is slated to employ at least 150 engineers at full capacity, will be responsible initially for assignments related to Airbus' new A350 aircraft, including the design of cabin interiors, crew rest compartments, lavatories and galleys.