Air Lease Corporation has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321 built entirely at the manufacturer’s final assembly line in Mobile, marking another milestone for the coastal Alabama facility as it continues to expand its footprint in the U.S. commercial aviation market.
The single-aisle jet rolled off the line at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility on Mobile Aeroplex property at Brookley before heading into service with Frontier Airlines, the Denver-based low-cost carrier that will operate the plane under a lease agreement with Air Lease Corporation. The aircraft carries Frontier’s signature branding, including an image of Xavier the Mountain Goat painted on its tail, along with fuel-saving wingtip devices known as Sharklets.
For Frontier, the delivery represents the airline’s first U.S.-assembled A321ceo, adding a larger variant to a fleet that has already welcomed six A320neo aircraft built at the same Mobile facility and delivered directly to the airline by Airbus. The A321 seats more passengers than the A320, giving Frontier additional capacity as it grows routes across its network.
Air Lease Corporation, a major global aircraft leasing firm that buys planes from manufacturers and leases them to airlines around the world, becomes the eighth U.S.-based customer to take delivery of an aircraft from Airbus’s Alabama assembly operation. The Mobile plant, which opened in 2015 along the Mobile River, builds A320 family aircraft, including the A319, A220 and A321 variants, for both airlines and leasing companies that supply jets to carriers worldwide.
The facility has steadily grown its output and workforce since production began, becoming a significant employer in the Mobile area and a symbol of the region’s push to build a diversified aerospace and manufacturing sector. Each delivery from the plant is closely watched locally as a gauge of the facility’s expanding role within Airbus’s global production network and its importance to the Gulf Coast economy.
Local officials and economic development leaders have pointed to the Airbus operation as a cornerstone of Mobile’s aerospace industry, which has drawn additional suppliers and support businesses to the area in the years since the assembly line opened. Continued orders and deliveries, such as this one to Air Lease Corporation, are viewed as evidence that the investment in the Mobile facility continues to pay dividends for the regional economy.