C27J Won't Be Coming to Alabama for Assembly
FARNBOROUGH, England - EADS North America has no plans to assemble the C-27J tactical transport plane from Alenia at the planned plant in Mobile, Alabama, said John Young, chief operating officer at the U.S. company.
"We have no intention to assemble the C-27J," Young told journalists at a media seminar July 12 ahead of the Farnborough airshow opening July 14. "There have been no conversations to the best of my knowledge."
The possibility of EADS and Northrop Grumman working on the Italian plane arose after Boeing pulled out of an industrial partnering deal which would have seen the C-27J assembled by the U.S. company in Jacksonville, Fla.
A second EADS executive said there have been no talks with Alenia, which is looking for a solution in the U.S., but EADS is staying cautious and keeping its options open.
EADS and Northrop Grumman have suspended work on the Mobile factory while the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense hold a new competition for air tankers. The site was being prepared to assemble militarized Airbus A330s as multi-role tankers and transports. EADS would also use the site to convert A330s into commercial freighter versions, if Northrop Grumman wins the tanker deal.
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