Today marked the end of Alabama’s business recruitment team’s mission at the Farnborough International Airshow for 2022, and they left with their eyes set on at least six expansion project opportunities and brand-new perceptions of the trends influencing the future of aerospace, aviation, and defence.
The Alabama working team met with various industry leaders throughout their time in London and at Farnborough.
They also had numerous casual conversations with representatives of aerospace companies beginning on Sunday and continuing through today.
The show’s project ideas were divided between brand-new construction and additions to current locations in Alabama.
Greg Canfield, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, stated that “we come away from Farnborough 2022 with a better grasp of the directions and opportunities that exist within the business.”
“Aerospace firms are realising they need redundancy in their supply chain as a result of the epidemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine; this is an opportunity for us.
There are significant potential opportunities for Alabama in the industry’s technological advancement, notably in the field of hypersonics, the expert continued.
According to Secretary Canfield, discussions during the Farnborough mission suggest that Alabama may profit from the significant investment that will be made in the aerospace and aviation industries over the next five years.
AIMING FOR AEROSPACE
Communities from Alabama who were represented at Farnborough are taking action to catch the investment swell.
One of them is the Birmingham Region, which has been working strategically to develop its aerospace industry and was given a boost at Farnborough by the news that defence contractor Kratos intends to increase the size of its advanced concepts engineering centre there.
With the $8.6 million investment, 76 well-paying positions will be created.
Kratos places a lot of emphasis on hypersonics. We want to know: “How can we improve our appeal for that and build on what Kratos is doing? Steve Ammons, a commissioner for Jefferson County, stated.
He noted that the Birmingham metro area, which has a population of more than a million, is well suited for the expansion of the aircraft sector.
It has a sizable pool of accessible workers and upskilling training programmes, to start.
MRO facilities and efforts for aviation mechanic training can be accommodated at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.
Furthermore, winning Kratos has enhanced the collaboration between Jefferson County and the City of Birmingham in terms of economic growth, according to Ammons.
“We must diversify the economy of the Birmingham Region. Great opportunities exist in the automobile, IT, and bio and life sciences fields.
We do, however, need to have a presence in aerospace given the industry’s growth trajectory and future direction, according to Ammons.
WATCHING TRENDS
The Alabama team will be closely watching a number of significant issues that surfaced during discussions at Farnborough 2022, according to Bob Smith, Commerce’s point person on aerospace.
First, the pandemic has heightened the industry’s long-standing emphasis on efficiency, leading to workforce streamlining and consolidation.
According to Smith, there is a significant tendency toward mergers as big corporations join forces and smaller suppliers are targeted for acquisition.
Single-aisle passenger aircraft, such as the A320 and A220 planes made by Airbus in Mobile, continue to account for the majority of orders in aviation.
According to Smith, estimates indicate that the global aviation fleet will increase by 80% over the next 20 years as a result of organic growth and operators’ hasty replacement of older aircraft with more fuel-efficient new ones.
He continued, innovative materials and hypersonic technology are the focus in the defence industry.
We talked about how we could support Alabama-based companies’ aspirations to be competitive and compete for market share since they are well-positioned in certain categories, according to Smith.
Collaborations between universities, businesses, and the workforce were frequently mentioned, which emphasises how urgent it is to solve the shortages of workers with the required skill sets.
How can Alabama keep up with the direction changes in the market?
In order to capitalise on the developments reshaping the aircraft industry, Secretary Canfield advised doing exactly what was done in Farnborough: maintaining contact and having ongoing conversations.
“This enables us to have a better understanding from the companies of both their potential and threats.
Then, we will be able to more clearly explain how we can work with them to seize these possibilities and lower their risks.