While Boeing is forced to hold up on its 737 production, Airbus is keeping busy, including speeding up production of A320s at its Mobile, Alabama plant from five a month to 7 a month by the end of next year.
The A320neo is a direct competitor for the grounded 737 MAX, and Airbus is aggressively pursuing new business in that sector. The U.S. plant is part of a strategy by Airbus to make itself more accessible to U.S. markets and to protect itself against threats of tariffs on imported planes.
The Mobile plant is also expanding in a second direction, with a new assembly line for the A220 that has been a hot seller lately. The plane, originally the Bombardier CSeries, is also built at its original home in Quebec.
