A new aerospace manufacturing facility slated to open in 2017 is expected to bring 260 jobs to southwest Alabama.
UTC Aerospace Systems officials said in a statement Tuesday that the company is developing a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Foley, about 40 miles southeast of Mobile. Construction is expected to take about a year and the new plant is slated to open in the second quarter of 2017, officials said.
Plant employees will assemble aerodynamic jet engine covers primarily to support the Airbus A320 and deliver propulsion systems from the facility to the Airbus assembly line in Mobile, officials said.
Airbus recently presented an aircraft assembled in Mobile to JetBlue and officials said the company plans to deliver four A320 family aircraft per month from Mobile by the end of 2017.
The new plant will also provide support for other aircraft including Bombardier, Embraer and Mitsubishi, UTC Aerospace Systems, officials said. The North Carolina-based company already operates two facilities in Foley that collectively employ about 800 people.
“We chose Foley to expand because of its proven track record of performance, our desire to be near a key customer, and the tremendous cooperation we’ve had from the state, county and the city,” Marc Duvall, president of UTC Aerospace Systems’ Aerostructures business, said in a statement.
Gov. Robert Bentley praised the company in a statement and said its Foley facility is one of its most innovative and productive operations.
“Creating new jobs remains my top priority, especially in the aerospace industry which we identified as strategic in our Accelerate Alabama growth plan,” Bentley said. “I commend the leaders at UTC Aerospace Systems for their investment in our state and confidence in the Alabama workforce.”
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense, Industrial automation
