TIMELINE: Airbus' 10-year-old obsession with Mobile

TIMELINE: Airbus' 10-year-old obsession with Mobile

MOBILE, Alabama -- We can go way, way back if you like. Say, the early 18th century. Airbus -- both the company and the concept -- would not be invented or even dreamed of for some time. But the roots of France's claim on the economic fortunes of Mobile can be traced that far. It was here in 1710 that the local regent of Louis XIV ruled the Louisiana Territory, a responsibility that eventually passed to a more suitable town located at the mouth of the Mississippi River called New Orleans. The legacy of France's early rule over Mobile lives on in the names of the streets -- Dauphin and Royal, for example -- and in the local drawl (it's \"mo-BEEL\", not \"MO-bil\").

Three centuries later, Mobile's Brookley Aeroplex will become the home of Airbus manufacturing on US soil, and perhaps the beginning of a more dramatic strategic shift for the Franco-German airframer. (Read our full analysis here.)

To conserve space, we'll fast forward our timeline to the very beginning of this century, with the first contact between Airbus and Mobile officials.

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2002 - As Airbus opens an engineering\ncentre in Wichita, North American chairman Allan McArtor discusses opening a\nMobile site with then-US Representative Sonny Callahan, an Alabama Repbulican.

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7 April 2004 - Airbus announces new\nfacility to support US Coast Guard training centre in Mobile.

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5 May 2005 - In bid for USAF tanker\ncontract, Mobile named among four finalist sites for A330-based tanker\nmodifications

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22 June 2005 -- EADS selects Mobile as A330\ntanker modification centre

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2007 - Airbus opens an engineering centre\nin Mobile.

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14 January 2008 - Airbus commits to\nestablish an A330 Freighter aircraft final assembly line in Mobile, conditioned\non if the Northrop Grumman/EADS North America KC-30 bid wins the USAF tanker\ncontest.

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29 February 2008 - Northrop/EADS team wins\nUSAF tanker contract, prepares to open A330F final assembly line in Mobile.

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19 June 2008 - Government Accountability\nOffice finds errors in bidding process, urges USAF to overturn contract and\nstart a new competition.

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1 October 2009 - Airbus establishes MRO\ncenter at Mobile regional airport to support US military C-212 and CN-235s,\nplus US Coast Guard HC-144s.

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24 February 2010 - USAF releases new\nrequest for proposals for KC-X tanker contract.

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24 February 2011 -- EADS loses second tanker\ncompetition to Boeing, but notes \"this is one business opportunity among many\nfor EADS in the United States\".

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2 July 2012 - Airbus commits to build \$600\nmillion final assembly centre for A320s in Mobile.

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Early 2013 - Airbus plans ground-breaking ceremony\nfor A320 final assembly complex

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2015 - First A320 to be inducted into\nfinal assembly centre

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2016 - First delivery of an A320\nscheduled to a US customer

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\n\n2017 - Mobile FAL expected to reach peak rate of between 40 and 50 A320s\nper year