Week in review (10/20 to 10/26)

American Airlines and Spirit Airlines executives are working with Airbus to mitigate the impact of U.S. tariffs on European-made aircraft, including having more planes delivered from its aircraft plant in Mobile, Ala.

Planes built there are not subject to a 10 percent tariff announced by Washington in the wake of the World Trade Organization ruling. American, one of the largest customers of the A320 series, expects 21 deliveries over the next two years, with nine already scheduled out of Airbus’ plant in Mobile. (Post)

Airbus and Spirit Airlines have agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding for the U.S.-based airline to acquire up to 100 A320neo series aircraft. Spirit announced its intention to place firm orders for a mix of A319neo, A320neo, and A321neo to meet its future fleet requirements.

Spirit is based in South Florida. At the end of September 2019, the A320neo series had received more than 6,650 firm orders from nearly 110 customers worldwide. Airbus builds the A320 series in Mobile, Ala., as well as in Germany, France and China. (Post)

Contracts

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $148.4 million order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement. This order procures durability testing support for the certification of the F-35B aircraft variant to a minimum of 8,000 flight hours/30 year service life in support of the Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense participants. The effort includes the test article configuration, the test article build, the test plan, the testing itself, and teardown and analysis. Work will be performed in Texas, California and the United Kingdom and is expected to be completed in July 2032. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of an F-35 training center. … Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., San Diego, Calif., was awarded an $18.3 million modification to a delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement in support of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system. This order procures material kits and retrofit labor to incorporate the Integrated Functional Capability (IFC) 4.0 configuration into one retrofit ground segment and fully fund the IFC 4.0 retrofit install labor for aircraft B10. Work will be performed in California, Texas, Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Virginia and various locations inside and outside the continental U.S. Work is expected to be completed in February 2021. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman in Moss Point, Miss., does fuselage work on Tritons. … FlightSafety Services Corp., Centennial, Colo., was awarded a $13.3 million modification to a previously awarded contract for aircrew training services in support of the TH-57B/C community, including instruction, operation and curriculum support. Work will be performed at Naval Air Station, Whiting Field, Fla., and is expected to be completed in October 2020. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Fla., is the contracting activity.