Exporting: America Helps Build the 'Bus

Down a dead-end street in Canoga Park, Calif., just north of Los Angeles, sits the only factory--you could call it the Global Headquarters--of Faber Enterprises, where 110 workers make precision metal fittings for the hydraulic lines in airplanes. The sun-baked, white facility, nearly the size of a football field, is run so frugally that there is no receptionist, just a phone by the door. But according to the European airplane manufacturer Airbus, this is a world-class shop. Airbus has signed up Faber, which has made fittings for Boeing, to make them for its newest aircraft, the A380.

Faber is not alone. Airbus, long regarded as a symbol of European independence from America's dominance of aerospace, has embarked on a $1 billion-a-year spending spree from California to Connecticut, signing contracts with dozens of parts suppliers. One reason is practical: the A380 will be the largest passenger airplane ever built, seating at least 555 on two decks, and its complex design requires Airbus to call on the most talented suppliers available, whether they're in Munich or Memphis. Another reason, though, is political: Airbus is spreading supply contracts to build a U.S. constituency for its aircraft and help avert any government restrictions that might favor Chicago-based Boeing over Airbus.

Based in Toulouse, France, Airbus is jointly owned by two private aerospace companies, European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. and BAE Systems, but is receiving subsidies from European governments in the form of $3 billion in loans that don't have to be repaid if the A380 fails to turn a profit. Boeing gets indirect handouts through its lucrative defense contracts, but critics say they aren't sufficient to level the playing field, and U.S. officials occasionally threaten to punish Airbus. The political equation may be changing, though. "U.S. companies are thrilled to be a part of the A380," says Mark Sullivan of engine maker Pratt & Whitney.

U.S. suppliers have signed 20 contracts and are bidding on an additional 25 for the A380, which is scheduled to enter service in 2006. In a surprise announcement last January, Airbus selected Honeywell, based in Phoenix, Ariz., to provide the crucial electronic flight-management system (which helps with navigation) for the A380, rejecting its usual supplier, France's Thales. And three carriers, including Air France, have asked that their copies of the A380 be equipped with engines made jointly by General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, rather than Rolls-Royce.

The A380's emergency power unit will be supplied by Hamilton Sundstrand, based in Windsor Locks, Conn. The 44-ft. emergency slides and the 18-ft.-high landing gear will be made by Goodrich, based in Charlotte, N.C. Triumph Group, based in Wayne, Pa., will produce the cargo-door actuation system. A division of Parker Aerospace based in Smithtown, N.Y., is providing fuel measurement and management systems.