Assembling a large commercial aircraft is a significant accomplishment - one that is the
result of millions of parts, thousands of workers, and years of research and development. When it
comes to the two largest planemakers, Airbus and Boeing each have multiple final assembly lines
(FALs) to get their products put together and prepared for customers. This video will examine
those sites, comparing the production operations of the two giants of the aviation industry.
This feature will focus on the assembly of commercial aircraft. It is worth noting,
however, that some sites will be responsible for military aircraft as well.
Let’s start off with US planemaker Boeing.
These days Boeing has three sites in the United States: Everett, Renton,
and Charleston. At the same time, however, many components come from other parts of the country,
while some even come from the other side of the world. It also has a completion
facility in China where interiors are fitted for aircraft delivered to Chinese airline customers.
But in terms of assembly sites, let’s start with Everett, Washington.
The birthplace of the 747, Boeing's Everett site has been running for over 50 years. Operating
since 1967, the facility now assembles the 767 and 777 families of aircraft.
As Boeing notes, other production areas at the site include the paint hangars, flight line,
and a delivery center. Between 2009 and 2021, the site was responsible for assembling the
787 Dreamliner as well, but this has since fully moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
Soon enough, Everett will be the assembly site of an additional
aircraft type. Announced in January 2023, Boeing is reworking its former 747 and
787 assembly lines in Everett to become a fourth final assembly line for the 737 MAX.
Boeing's Everett facility has been open for the public to tour - at least, this was the
case up until 2020. Factory tours starting from Boeing's 'Future of Flight' facility
have been suspended since the start of the pandemic, but hopefully, this can restart soon.
Once aircraft have been assembled, testing and delivery to customers
take place at Paine Field (PAE), which is also known as Snohomish County Airport.
Boeing's other assembly facility in Washington state is in Renton. This facility has historically
been tasked with assembling Boeing's narrowbody aircraft, including the 707, 727, 737, and 757.
These days, the 737 is the only family of aircraft being made here,
with fuselages brought in via train from Wichita,
Kansas. These are produced by Spirit AeroSystems, which is itself a 'Boeing spin-off company.'
According to Boeing, its Renton facility covers 1.1 million square feet (102,193 square meters)
of factory space. From here, well over 10,000 737s have been assembled and delivered to customers.
As it is based on the 737 platform, the P-8A Poseidon,
a Navy submarine hunter and maritime patrol aircraft, is also built at Renton.
Once assembled, 737s (and P-8As) are tested and delivered from the airport known as Boeing Field
(BFI), although officially, the aerodrome's name is King County International Airport
The third and final assembly facility for Boeing is located in Charleston,
South Carolina. This is a relatively new facility for Boeing, as it was only established in 2011 as
a second Dreamliner assembly facility, working in tandem with Everett for about a decade.
In 2020, Boeing confirmed that it would consolidate Dreamliner production in South
Carolina, and after about a year, the last 787 from Everett would be produced in 2021.
The Dreamliner is a much more 'global' aircraft in its composition. While the 787's forward fuselage
and some other components come from Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, other parts come from
places much farther away. This includes Italy (center fuselage and horizontal stabilizer) and
Japan (wing, center wingbox, etc.). Other parts of the wing come from South Korea and Australia.
With some large components built quite far away, Boeing employs the Dreamlifter to get everything
in place in Charleston. Thus, if you track the flight history of one of these modified 747s,
you'll see that it visits airports like Nagoya (Japan), Taranto (Italy),
and Wichita, among others, ultimately heading to Charleston after each run.
In addition to Dreamliner assembly, Boeing South Carolina is home to other Boeing divisions,
including Research & Technology, an IT Center of Excellence, Propulsion Systems,
the Interiors Responsibility Center, and the Engineering Design Center. As for aircraft
testing and delivery of 787s, this takes place at Charleston International Airport (CHS).
Moving on to European planemaker Airbus, this firm notes that it has more than 20
manufacturing sites, each producing and/or assembling different aircraft parts.
Established from the beginning as a multinational corporation, Airbus' first aircraft, the A300,
saw components built in various locations across Europe. Countries included Germany,
France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK. The Airbus A300 would be assembled in,
and take its first flight from, the French city of Toulouse.
That spirit of pan-European collaboration and cooperation continues, with Airbus' larger
assembly facilities located in Germany and France. However, over the past decade, Airbus has expanded
well beyond the European continent and now has two sites in North America and one in China.
Airbus' first and largest facility is located in Toulouse,
France. This site has been responsible for the assembly of the A320, A330, A340,
A350, and A380 families of aircraft. With the A380 having ended its production run in 2021,
the superjumbo's assembly line has been converted to become an A320/A321 final assembly line.
Once aircraft are assembled, they will be tested and delivered from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.
As the Airbus Delivery Center is closest to runway 3-2-Left-slash-1-4-Right,
this is the runway from which Airbus jets (and ATR turboprops) are tested and delivered.
An Airbus Factory Tour is available here, although a number of reviews
expressed disappointment that the tour was mainly a video showing production,
in addition to a bus ride that didn't offer much to see.
Over in Germany, Airbus has a significant assembly site located on the outskirts of Hamburg,
more specifically, the area known as Finkenwerder. Located here are four A320 Family final assembly
lines, as well as manufacturing of the forward and rear fuselage sections of the A330 and A350.
For the A320 family aircraft assembled at the German facility,
testing and delivery takes place from Airbus' own Hamburg-Finkenwerder Airport
(XFW). No public flights take place from this airport, although anyone can get close enough
to the runway to watch aircraft taking off and landing all day long (albeit through a fence).
Like Toulouse, a factory tour is also available in Hamburg. However,
in contrast to reviews of the Toulouse tour, the Hamburg tour involves more walking and
more opportunities to see aircraft in the process of being assembled.
Moving outside of Europe, Airbus has A320 family final assembly lines in Tianjin,
China, and Mobile, Alabama, in the United States. Aircraft assembled in Tianjin are
delivered to Asian airlines, while those built in Mobile, Alabama, go to customers in North America.
The Tianjin line was established in 2008, while Airbus' Mobile site was officially opened in 2015.
Due to Boeing's legal action against Bombardier, the Canadian
planemaker's CSeries program was scooped up by Airbus over the course of 2017 and 2018.
The initial plan was for Airbus to take a controlling stake in the program and set
up an A220 facility in Mobile to get around costly tariffs imposed by the US government.
A220s produced in the US would go to US customers, eliminating the threat
of import duties - duties that would eventually be ruled unfair. Groundbreaking of the A220 line
in Mobile took place in 2019, with the first US-assembled A220 being delivered in 2020.
Meanwhile, "Airbus Canada" (formerly Bombardier) would
produce A220s for non-US customers at its Mirabel facility in Canada.
Airbus operations in Mobile are set to expand further, with the company eyeing
a second A320 assembly line at the site. While Mobile County officials are concerned
about taxpayer funds supporting jobs for workers who will live outside the area,
it's a relatively small concern for what should be a major benefit to the state of Alabama overall.
In terms of aircraft testing and delivery,
airports and runways used for these sites are as follows:
Tianjin A320 family FAL: Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN)
Mobile A320 family and A220 family FAL: Mobile International Airport (BFM)
Mirabel A220 FAL: Montréal–Mirabel International Airport (YMX)
Putting the two manufacturers and their facilities side-by-side,
it's quite surprising how much larger Airbus' operations appear to be.
Indeed, Airbus has more final assembly lines with much more geographical diversity. As highlighted
by the company itself, it’s a true statement that “the Sun never sets on Airbus’ aircraft
assembly sites.” The company has a total of 12 final assembly lines at five locations globally;
in comparison, Boeing's six (soon to be seven) FALs are all located within the United States.
What do you think of the manufacturing locations and capabilities of the two
major aircraft manufacturers? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!