Airbus officials meet with Ohio businesses

DAYTON, Ohio — Officials of the aircraft manufacturer Airbus planned to meet Monday with representatives of nearly 100 Ohio companies to talk about doing more business with them.

Airbus officials arranged the meeting with companies at a procurement conference in suburban Dayton to promote and facilitate increased business between the state’s aerospace manufacturers and Airbus.

Airbus spent $14.4 billion last year on aircraft-related procurement in the U.S. That includes $6.1 billion in Ohio, the company’s No. 1 supplier state, according to the Dayton Daily News. Airbus’ procurement spending in Ohio increased more than 19 percent last year.

Airbus intends to nearly double that spending amount in the U.S. by 2020 to meet growing global demand for more fuel-efficient jets.

France-based Airbus forecasts air traffic will grow 4.7 percent annually over the next 20 years, requiring 29,200 new passenger and freighter aircraft to be built, including 10,400 to replace existing planes with more efficient ones, at a total value of nearly $4.4 trillion.

American rival Boeing Co. forecasts long-term demand for 36,770 new aircraft, valued at $5.2 trillion, including 15,500 to replace older, less efficient models.

Ohio has more than 1,200 private companies in the aerospace and defense industry, and directly employs over 130,000 full-time aerospace and aviation workers, according to JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development agency.

Airbus held three previous supplier summits in 2009 and 2010 in Cleveland, Columbus and in the Dayton suburb of Kettering. This year, the company is hosting one statewide conference at the National Composite Center in Kettering.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS