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Post by pa380scal on Jan 21, 2020 10:35:22 GMT 1
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starbucks
Roll Out Flight Line in Toulouse
Posts: 523
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Post by starbucks on Jan 21, 2020 10:35:56 GMT 1
I just got a pushnotification from the Airbus News app that indeed the rumored A321 FAL will be built in the "old" A380 building. Should be operational by mid-2022. //Edit: You beat me Surprised that the release mentions that the overall Single Aisle capacity remains flat, so no increase in monthly rate expected...
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someone
in service - 1 year
Posts: 3,245
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Post by someone on Jan 21, 2020 10:44:08 GMT 1
Interesting that it actually won't increase the A32x output from TLS, if I understand Airbus' wording correct
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philidor
in service - 6 years
Posts: 8,950
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Post by philidor on Jan 22, 2020 10:30:20 GMT 1
Surprised that the release mentions that the overall Single Aisle capacity remains flat, so no increase in monthly rate expected... I see that as a short term situation only. Airbus' announcement is remarkably low-key, whereas we know the creation of a modern A321-capable in Toulouse is a major step forward. Airbus seems to be trying to temper German disappointment by underscoring increased production flexibility and being silent about future production increases.
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mjoelnir
in service - 2 years
Posts: 4,089
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Post by mjoelnir on Jan 22, 2020 12:44:04 GMT 1
I can well imagine that Airbus will close down the old line in TLS while installing a new one. The old line is work intensive and does 8 frames a month. The new line, if a copy of line four in XFW, would do A319, A320 to A321, would be able to do 10 frames a month and reduce manual work. If both old lines get replaced, throughput would increase to 20 frames a month instead of 16, while needing a smaller wok force in the FALs. Work in outfitting would increase It is difficult to automate outfitting, especially when increasing the number of versions. So I would assume no reduction in the overall work force, but rather an increase.
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philidor
in service - 6 years
Posts: 8,950
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Post by philidor on Jan 22, 2020 14:07:22 GMT 1
I can well imagine that Airbus will close down the old line in TLS while installing a new one. The old line may be replaced, but not while the new one is being built, or until it works satisfactorily at full speed (the latest line in Hamburg met with a lot of problems) . Otherwise, production would be temporarily reduced, which Airbus would not accept while ramping up. Once the new line works routinely at a high rate, it becomes in part a financial decision whether to replace the old one, or to modernise it, or just let it work for some time without further investment.
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carl
in Convoy en route to Toulouse
Posts: 93
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Post by carl on Jan 23, 2020 7:44:10 GMT 1
www.ladepeche.fr/2020/01/22/airbus-ouvrira-sa-nouvelle-usine-a321-en-2022-avec-500-emplois-a-la-clef,8678300.php here is an article (in french) from a local newspaper it says that the existing A320 line will be modernized to bring its capacity from 15 to 20 A320's monthly "Des compagnons jusque-là dédiés à l’A380 seront transférés sur l’A320. La direction a aussi trouvé un accord avec les syndicats toulousains sur des mesures de compétitivité. Parallèlement, l’actuelle et unique chaîne A320 toulousaine en service depuis 1987 sera modernisée afin de la rendre plus efficace. Sa production devrait être portée de quinze à vingt appareils par mois." Translated : "workers from the A380 line will be transferred towards the A320. There is also an agreement with the unions on measures to increase the efficiency. In parallel (note from myself : to building the A321-line, as I understand) the current and only A320 line in Toulouse that was started in 1987 will be modernised to increase efficiency. Its production (capacity) should be brought from a monthly rate of 15 to 20" There is also an interesting topic in the article about the KUKA robots in Hamburg. Apparently KUKA, originally a german company, is now chinese-owned and there is a fear (in the public opinion) that China could spy on airbus using these robots. Apparently the management of Airbus has decided that there should be no KUKA-robots in the A321 assembly in Toulouse...
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philidor
in service - 6 years
Posts: 8,950
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Post by philidor on Jan 23, 2020 11:27:13 GMT 1
I would like a clarification, but I cannot use the link posted by carl. As the new A321-capable line isn't mentioned in the above excerpt, do they mean that the old line is being modernised as well, or are they just saying that the facility is being modernised by the creation of a new line ?
As regards the tooling, I'm not sure fear of China is the main reason they intend to use another supplier. There were (or there are) serious problems with the tooling used in XFW, though I don't know whether the supplier or the manufacturer was responsible.
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carl
in Convoy en route to Toulouse
Posts: 93
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Post by carl on Jan 23, 2020 11:31:23 GMT 1
www.ladepeche.fr/2020/01/22/airbus-ouvrira-sa-nouvelle-usine-a321-en-2022-avec-500-emplois-a-la-clef,8678300.php try to paste the complete link (including the part after the komma) into your browser from what i understand from the article, they used the possible construction of the new A321 plant in their negotiation with the unions to get concessions on the increase of efficiency (read : automation) of the A320 line so that in the end the A320 line will go from a capacity of 15 to a capacity of 20. So the automation/modernisation that is mentioned is about the A320 line in addition to the new A321 line. all in all, an extra 590 people will be employed (in addition to the ones currently working on the A320 line and on the A380 line) I must say that I have the impression that airbus is doing the best they can not to give the impression that they increase capacity because of the 737MAX problems. They try not to announce a formal rate increase but are doing all they can to increase the production rate. kind regards carl
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Post by peter on Jan 23, 2020 12:13:08 GMT 1
www.ladepeche.fr/2020/01/22/airbus-ouvrira-sa-nouvelle-usine-a321-en-2022-avec-500-emplois-a-la-clef,8678300.php try to paste the complete link (including the part after the komma) into your browser from what i understand from the article, they used the possible construction of the new A321 plant in their negotiation with the unions to get concessions on the increase of efficiency (read : automation) of the A320 line so that in the end the A320 line will go from a capacity of 15 to a capacity of 20. So the automation/modernisation that is mentioned is about the A320 line in addition to the new A321 line. all in all, an extra 590 people will be employed (in addition to the ones currently working on the A320 line and on the A380 line) I must say that I have the impression that airbus is doing the best they can not to give the impression that they increase capacity because of the 737MAX problems. They try not to announce a formal rate increase but are doing all they can to increase the production rate. kind regards carl Carl, type the word "link" (or whatever) on the top line in the link-pop-up. That will eliminate corrupting the link because of comma's, dots, hyphens etc. LINK
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