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Airbus To Expand, Looks To Wichita For Suppliers

Isaac Bordas
/
Flickr

Kansas officials and Airbus Americas Chair Allan McArtor Tuesday announced a partnership intended to grow the state’s aviation industry by increasing contact with local aircraft suppliers.

In a conference call with reporters Airbus’ Allan McArtor along with Senator Jerry Moran and representatives from the City of Wichita announced the Air Capital Supplier Summit will be held in the city later this summer.

McArtor said Airbus currently supports about 210,000 manufacturing jobs in the US and spends about $12 billion dollars a year on components and services.

“This $12 billion dollars that we spend, we want to double that, we want to double that in the next 10 to 15 years,” says McArtor.

“And in order to do that we need to be aware of the suppliers in various regions, various states.”

Senator Moran said the August 6 conference give Kansas suppliers a chance to showcase their products and services to Airbus.

“We wanted to make certain that Kansas was a significant component of the market that Airbus looked at in that expansion,” says Moran.

Though not every one can be a primary supplier to Airbus, McArtor said there is also potential for smaller companies to become suppliers to their suppliers.

Airbus currently employs 350 engineers at their Wichita offices in Old town. They intend to add 60 engineers immediately with potential for more growth in the near future.

Kansas suppliers interested in the August Air Capital Supplier Summit can register here.