Airbus is set to take a much larger ownership stake in the A220 jet program, the aircraft line that includes a second final assembly line built at the company’s Mobile campus, after Canadian manufacturer Bombardier agreed to sell off its remaining share of the partnership.
Under the new ownership arrangement announced this week, Airbus will hold a 75 percent stake in the A220 program, while the government of Quebec will hold the remaining 25 percent. The restructuring comes after Bombardier, which originally developed the aircraft under the C Series name before partnering with Airbus in 2018, decided to exit the joint venture entirely.
Airbus first took majority control of the program in July 2018, and demand for the aircraft has grown steadily since. Cumulative net orders for the A220 climbed 64 percent to 658 units by the end of January, according to figures released alongside the announcement.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said the new agreement reflects the company’s long-term commitment to the aircraft program and to its operations in Canada. He credited Bombardier for its collaboration during the earlier phase of the partnership and said the restructuring positions the A220 for continued growth as production ramps up to meet customer demand.
For Mobile, where Airbus operates a final assembly line dedicated to the A220 at its Brookley Aeroplex campus, company officials say the ownership change will not alter local operations. Airbus America spokeswoman Kristi Tucker said the Mobile facility remains on track to deliver its first A220 aircraft during the third quarter of this year and that hiring for the plant continues. The site is expected to eventually produce as many as four A220 jets per month by the middle of the decade, adding to the output of Airbus’s original Mobile assembly line, which builds A320-family aircraft.
The A220 line represented a major expansion of Airbus’s footprint in Mobile when it was first announced, building on the company’s initial investment in the city and adding hundreds of aerospace jobs to the region. Local officials have pointed to the growth of the Airbus campus as a key driver of the area’s expanding aerospace and manufacturing sector.
As part of the ownership deal, Bombardier will receive $591 million, and Airbus has committed to securing about 3,300 jobs tied to the program in Quebec. Financial details of the transaction are expected to be finalized in the coming months, though officials say the change is not expected to affect the timeline or scope of work underway in Mobile.