US aerospace manufacturers delegation visits the FAL

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut – shown here at the A350 XWB final assembly line – led a delegation of home-state aerospace manufacturers in a visit to Airbus’ Toulouse, France facilities.

Richard Blumenthal, the United States Senator for the state of Connecticut, led a delegation of home-state aerospace manufacturers in a visit to Airbus, in Toulouse, France.  Airbus is the largest export customer of the U.S. aerospace industry.  At Airbus the delegation met with Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier, Executive Vice President for Procurement Klaus Richter and other procurement officials. The delegation also toured the state-of-the-art A350 XWB and A380 Final Assembly Lines.

Formerly Connecticut’s Attorney General, the Senator was elected to the Senate in 2010.  He is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and also of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has responsibility over FAA and other transportation matters.

The three-day mission will take place from February 18-20, and will connect nine Connecticut precision manufacturers to senior procurement officials at Airbus, Goodrich Aerostructures, Aircelle, Liebherr, and DGA Techniques Aéronautiques.

Participating Connecticut companies include AdChem Manufacturing Technologies, AeroCision, Alpha Q Inc., Capewell Components, Jonal Laboratories, Microtech, Pegasus Manufacturing and SPX Precision Components. Jointly, the nine companies employ over 6,000 people in Connecticut. For many but not all of the firms, the trip will be the first introduction to Airbus and their top tier suppliers. Most of the companies are precision component manufacturers, providing highly specialized technology vital to aerospace engineering.

“I am proud to join these nine manufacturers in showing the European aerospace market the ingenuity, quality and value that Connecticut precision manufacturers can provide. It is my hope that this visit will help these outstanding companies expand their work internationally and add jobs here in Connecticut,” Blumenthal said.