FactualThe company, in which Quebec is a 25% shareholder, wants to increase the production capacity of the A220, leader in its sector.
The hangar, with a surface area of more than 1 hectare, is empty of any installation. But this is where Airbus Canada is preparing for the post-Covid future. Until January, this vast building of the Airbus-Bombardier plant, located in Mirabel, near the cargo airport of the greater Montreal area, hosted the assembly lines of the CRJ, the regional jet of the former Quebec’s flagship of aeronautics. But the final takeover, in February 2020, of Bombardier’s A220 program (formerly CSeries) by the European giant now leaves Airbus alone on board.
While outside workers are busy lowering the Bombardier logo from the facade of the factory to leave only that of Airbus, signaling the end of a partnership formed in 2018, others are beginning the site which should allow by early 2022 to install the future pre-assembly lines of the A220.
Airbus Canada, of which Quebec is a 25% shareholder through Investissement Quebec, intends to accelerate the production rate of its latest addition, this single aisle with a capacity of 100 to 150 seats, today leader in its sector.
“A substantial investment”
Currently, three A220s are released from the Mirabel plant every month; a fourth aircraft for the US market is also produced on the Airbus line in Mobile, Alabama. The objective is to achieve, in five years, a monthly production of fourteen planes on the two sites, including ten in Canada. This future pre-assembly line, known as “pre-FAL” (for “pre-Final Assembly Line”), is inspired by the Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) site, which has rationalized its production method.
By pre-fitting the aircraft’s fuselage sections upstream with floors and wiring, which today arrive completely empty and bare, the aircraft manufacturer intends to gain in speed, efficiency, cost, and therefore profitability over the line. entire assembly line. A process that includes, once the sections are equipped, the addition of the wings, the tail unit, the landing gear and the aircraft’s flight controls, all of which arrive separately by ship from China, from Ireland, Italy or Germany. Only Michelin tires are of purely French manufacture.
While the pandemic leaves many airlines bloodless, the timing chosen by Airbus to step up production comes as no surprise. “It’s a substantial investment, recognizes Florent Massou, head of the A220 program, who refuses to reveal the exact amount. But after having observed a six-month hiatus in our project, we made the strategic choice to go ahead, because we are seeing a lot of positive signals. “
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