Triumph wins Airbus contract

Triumph Group Inc. has landed a $35 million contract to manufacture floor panels for the Airbus A380 plane at its Spokane factory.

The deal marks the first time that employees at the former Boeing plant will count Airbus as a customer rather than a competitor.

“Yeah, it’s a little different for us,” Triumph spokesman Dick Welsh said.

The A380 is the European jet maker’s jumbo aircraft. Production of the huge plane is an Airbus achievement that frustrated Boeing and eventually led the company to abandon a similar aircraft.

Boeing sold its Spokane plant two years ago as part of its effort to exit the business of making parts. Instead, Boeing is most interested in the design, final assembly and sales of commercial aircraft.

The sale jolted Spokane, which counted Boeing among its top corporate residents.

Now operated as Triumph, the Spokane plant still makes floor panels, ducting materials and flight deck components for Boeing, but now seeks to do business with other aircraft companies such as Airbus. The Spokane plant has about 320 employees.

The new contract could mean more hiring down the road, although Triumph won’t start supplying the parts to Airbus until next year, Welsh said.

Just this week, United Parcel Service ordered 10 of the giant two-deck A380s for its delivery fleet.

Triumph will design and engineer the floor panels for Airbus’ freighter version of the A380.