WASHINGTON — European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said Friday it plans to double its annual spending with U.S. companies to about $24 billion in the coming years and would seek new supplier partnerships in Southern California.
The announcement marked a new step in the U.S. market, after Airbus announced in July plans to build its first aircraft assembly plant in the country in Mobile, Ala. Backed by a strong global order backlog of more than 4,400 aircraft and growing future demand, “Airbus plans to double its current $12 billion annual spending with U.S. manufacturers in the coming years,” the company said in a statement.
Airbus said it now spends more than $1 billion in the Southern California region and that last year’s spending went to more than 400 manufacturers and service suppliers in more than 40 U.S. states.
Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, highlighted that its U.S. spending was equal to supporting 210,000 American jobs, calculated by a U.S. Commerce Department formula.
