Alcoa Fastening to Hire 250 in Airbus Venture

Jason Sandefur

Alcoa Fastening Systems will hire 250 new people at its Southern California plants, including company headquarters in Torrance, to produce fasteners for Airbus” new A380 “superjumbo” airliner.\ AFS will provide one million parts for each 550-seat, twin deck A380, which will reportedly be the largest commercial jet in the world when it enters service in 2006. The A380 has an 8,000-mile range.
“This new aircraft features more new Alcoa alloys and products than any other aircraft in our 100 years of aviation history,” stated AFS CEO Olivier Jarrault.
AFS is quick to claim that there has not been a plane since the Wright Brothers historic flight that does not use Alcoa technology or products.
AFS already has 3,000 employees in five locations around Los Angeles. A division of Alcoa Inc., AFS was formed in 2002 when Alcoa purchased Fairchild Fasteners and integrated the business with its existing Huck Fastener division.
Airbus North America chairman Allan McArtor was on hand in Torrance to celebrate the announcement of the joint venture. He praised AFS for their extensive role in the A380″s design.
“Airbus took a problem to Alcoa seeking solutions.”
To complete the aircraft, AFS designed several propriety fasteners for the A380, including the XPL Lockbolt Fastening System to tie composite and metallic parts together in the A380 center wing box. The XPL is an extended performance lockbolt with a titanium collar strong enough to handle the wing”s great size. Each wing is 119 feet from tip to fuselage and is designed to carry almost 41,000 gallons of fuel as well as housing landing gear.
McArtor described the A380 in lofty terms, dubbing it “the flagship of the 21st century.”
“It will be the airplane that stimulates the global economy by linking important hub cities around the world.”
Following the ceremony, Jarrault told FIN that the venture with Airbus is evidence that the integration of Fairchild and Huck is proceeding nicely after 16 months of hard work.
“We still have a lot to do. But we consider this a significant success,” Jarrault told FIN.
“I think it”s really great to see business picking up.” �2004 FastenerNews.com