ASMS Students Tour Airbus Facility

Mobile is the home to the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility, where roughly 2,200 employees assemble aircraft for major airlines like Delta and JetBlue. Since the opening of the Airbus Mobile facility in 2013, the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science has partnered with Airbus in ways that benefit the school and the corporation. Initially, select ASMS students and employees served as language partners for European Airbus employees relocating to Mobile. More recently, Airbus has employed ASMS graduates such as Skyler Penton (class of 2014) as engineers.

On October 25th, ASMS students visited the Airbus Mobile facility to learn about the science of aircraft assembly and the careers associated with it. Chief of Staff Bettsie Norton led fifteen ASMS students on a tour of the hangers on the facility floor, where they saw cabins, wings, noses, tail fins, and even bathrooms being installed on various aircraft to meet the detailed requests of the ordering airlines.

Students were astounded by the cosmopolitan scope of the Airbus manufacturing process. They learned that, prior to arriving by ship for final assembly in Mobile, aircraft parts are designed and manufactured in places like Wales, France, and Germany. Students were also impressed by Airbus’s commitment to safety and quality assurance. From the facility’s careful adherence to European, Canadian, and American air transport protocols to its relentless elimination of F.O.D. (foreign object debris), students appreciated that Airbus delivers safe aircraft for safe travel.

After the tour, students visited Flight Works Alabama, an aerospace education center located at the Brookley Aeroplex near the Airbus facility. There, they engaged in hands-on learning activities, including a flight simulator, a virtual reality experience, and games that simulate aircraft manufacturing processes. Describing the overall experience, ASMS sophomore Eden Fillingim smiled and said, “This was cool!”

The students enjoyed the Airbus facility tour and the visit to Flight Works. Back at ASMS, students interested in exploring aerospace careers can enroll in classes like Flight Studies, Aerodynamics, Introduction to Engineering, Foundations of Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, leaving them well-prepared for the college courses they will need to take to become engineers, mechanics, and pilots.