Carrier Has About 170 Airbus Aircraft On Order

With the prospect of tariffs looming, Delta Airlines is counting on A320 airliners produced in Mobile, AL to avoid tariffs being imposed on Airbus by the World Trade Organization.

Forbes reports that airliners assembled in Mobile will likely be exempt from the tariffs, which are being levied after the WTO determined that European governments illegally subsidized Airbus over two years.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on an earnings call last week that "Mobile is going to be very important for us going forward."

Airbus currently assembles five A320 airliners per month at Mobile, with plans to increase production to six aircraft in January and begin assembly of A220 airplanes in the near future at the plant. Along with Delta, American, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Allegiant, Frontier and Spirit all fly Airbus products.

“That's going to be the focus of our domestic strategy to be getting our 220s, our 321s via Mobile as Airbus continues to ramp up that production capability,” Bastian said. “I'm not going to get into any longer-term ideas we have because obviously it doesn't necessarily help you on the widebodies, but we're evaluating options there. And as I said, our goal is to mitigate any potential tariff exposure.”

Delta has about 170 Airbus aircraft on order. Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell told Forbes that the Mobile manufacturing operation will not be affected by tariffs "in the immediate term."

But he cautioned that "in the longer term, it's not yet fully clear." He said Airbus hopes that the United States Trade Representative will not impose tariffs on goods such as component shipped to the Mobile factory for incorporation into finished products.

(Image from file)

FMI: Source report