Week in review (1/3 to 1/9)

First, let me thank all of the readers who took the time to look at our new regional quarterly business magazine, and for all the encouragement to keep it up. It's always gratifying when people like what you've done.

In case you missed it, the Gulf Coast Reporters’ League Business Quarterly was published Tuesday. It's done by the same people who produce our aerospace bimonthly, and covers business activities in the I-10 region between Baton Rouge, La., and Tallahassee, Fla.

It's old-style journalism, with all the content put together by experienced, mostly former newspaper staffers. It takes a broad view of the region between Baton Rouge, La., and Tallahassee, Fla., the I-10 corridor.

You won't have to wonder about the source of information. We don't mingle so-called sponsored content or advertorials with our news and feature stories. Our advertisers put in traditional ads that look like ads. We just happen to believe there are some new tricks old dogs don't need to learn.

Subscribers receive our magazine PDF delivered to their inbox, and fair warning, it’s a pretty big file. Our first issue was 74 pages, and the full PDF is more than 36MB, but we use a compression program that gets that down to under 6MB so it can be emailed. Intimidating? Perhaps. But you've got three months to read it before our next issue.

And we know there are some of you who still like the feel of print, something you can hold in your hands and doesn't have to be recharged. We work with a print-on-demand service that we've been using for nearly 10 years now and make that available as well. The printed magazine, however, will cost you some money. You can get it at cost -- we don't attach a royalty -- along with a shipping charge. Who knows. One day they might be collectors items.

Even if you don't subscribe to the emailed version, you can download either the large or small PDF at our website. We think you'll be glad you did.

Now here's your aerospace week in review:

How appropriate that right at the start of the year we have an Airbus-related story.

Airbus, which in September officially opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala., is busily working on its first A320 series of aircraft, and slowly building its work force. It issued two releases during the week seeking candidates for new positions in Mobile. One is for a customs specialist and the other for two aircraft conformity managers. (Post)

The Airbus facility also attracted another supplier. During the week it was announced that Zodiac Aerospace of France has decided to set up shop close to the Airbus manufacturing plant at the Mobile Aeroplex.

Zodiac designs aircraft cabins and has some 30,000 workers at 100 sites. Mobile is its 25th in the United States, and it will start out very small, just five initially, who will focus on A320 cabin interiors, specifically seats.

Zodiac will occupy about 1,700 square feet of a 5,000-square-foot space already being used by Germany's Vartan Product Support. (Post)

Speaking of growth, global commercial aerospace subsector revenues are projected to increase by 3.4 percent in 2016, according to a new report released by Deloitte.

Continued demand for new  commercial aircraft, new technologies, strong passenger traffic, and military spending prompted by activity in the Middle East, will drive the growth, according to the report.

Deloitte’s projection for the commercial sector is based on forecasts from airframe manufacturers and several investment analyst reports. (Post)