MOBILE, Ala. — To mark the 11th anniversary of its first commercial aircraft assembly line in Mobile, Flight Works Alabama and Airbus have announced joint initiatives beginning this academic year to expand student access to aerospace and advanced manufacturing education across Mobile and Baldwin counties.
The “Imagine What’s Possible” initiative will subsidize interactive field trips and assembly line tours, award grants to schools for STEAM curriculum and cover logistical costs that can keep students from participating.
Why the Barrier Is Usually Logistics
“Our goal is to ensure that every student in our community has the access and encouragement needed to pursue an advanced manufacturing path, whether in aerospace or another local industry,” said Daryl Taylor, SVP of Commercial Aircraft Operations for Airbus in the US.
“With our community and elected officials doing their part to bring quality jobs to South Alabama, we want to empower all students to ‘imagine what’s possible’ and see themselves in these rewarding manufacturing careers for decades to come.”
Structured around a three-pillar outreach framework, the initiative combines career exposure, hands-on technical learning and financial support to ensure logistical hurdles do not restrict student success.
That last element addresses something educators encounter constantly. A field trip is rarely blocked by a lack of interest — it is blocked by bus availability, substitute coverage, admission costs and the fees that some families cannot absorb. A program that funds the trip but not the bus does not reach the students it is aimed at.
The Three Pillars
- See What’s Possible — subsidizes interactive field trips at Flight Works Alabama and final assembly line tours for 5th-, 7th- and 9th-grade cohorts in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
- Experience What’s Possible — awards STEAM Curriculum Grants giving schools fully funded access to the We Build It Better and We Will Build It Better experiential learning programs.
- Access What’s Possible — an educational fund created through Flight Works Alabama to cover essential operational logistics and sponsor key events that ensure equal access.
Why Those Three Grades
Targeting fifth, seventh and ninth grades rather than a single year is a deliberate design choice, and it maps onto the decision points in a student’s education.
Fifth grade is before the transition to middle school, when interest in science and math is still broadly distributed. Seventh grade is when course selection begins to shape later options in mathematics. Ninth grade is when students choose pathways — advanced math and science tracks, career and technical education programs, dual enrollment — that materially determine what is available to them at graduation.
A student who tours an aircraft assembly line at each of those three points encounters the possibility repeatedly, at the moments when it can actually influence a decision.
A Working Assembly Line, Not a Museum
The distinguishing feature of the program is the final assembly line tour. Students are not visiting a static exhibit; they are seeing commercial aircraft being built, by people employed locally, in their own county.
Airbus has assembled commercial aircraft at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley since the facility opened, and the operation has expanded over the intervening years. For a student from Mobile or Baldwin County, the manufacturing career being described is not hypothetical or distant — it is happening a short drive from home, and the people doing it went to local schools.
The District Partner
As Alabama’s largest school district with nearly 50,000 students, Mobile County Public Schools is a critical partner in connecting area students to the programs and facility tours.
“Our goal is to make sure every student leaves Mobile County Public Schools prepared for college or career,” said Chresal D. Threadgill, Superintendent of Mobile County Public Schools. “Programs like ‘Imagine What’s Possible’ give our students an opportunity to take what they are learning in the classroom and see how it applies in the real world.”
Eleven Years in Mobile
The initiative marks the 11th anniversary of the first commercial aircraft assembly line in Mobile. Flight Works Alabama, located adjacent to the Airbus facility, operates as an aviation education center and visitor experience.
Information on participation is available through Flight Works Alabama and participating school systems.