The Final Countdown to A321XLR Customer Handovers

Delivering an aircraft is a huge team effort, relying on the dedicated work of the customer programme, manufacturing, flight line and delivery teams. Take a deep dive into their work and learn how a new Airbus aircraft – in this case, the XLR – makes it from purchase agreement to the ferry flight.

Over the summer, the A321XLR received the first of its two type certifications after undergoing an extensive testing and certification process. Now, the delivery of the very first aircraft to the launch customer is being prepared. But what has the journey been like for the teams to get to this milestone?

The process starts well before the final assembly line (FAL). The customer is assigned a Customer Programme Director, who oversees the entire aircraft development process. Marie-Pierre Demarez is one such director, who is in charge of XLR orders for the first aircraft customers. “In this role I am accountable for the on-time, on-quality, and on-cost delivery of all aircraft in the customer’s XLR fleet, from the purchase agreement signature to the transfer of title,” she explains.

After a purchase agreement is signed, an airline makes its requests to customise the aircraft. This includes the selection of system and cargo options, external livery, cabin design and more. Considering that the XLR is a new aircraft variant, the initial customisation requests required more collaboration than usual. “Longer flights on a single-aisle aircraft bring new operational requirements, catering for example,” says Marie-Pierre. “We had to find the right balance between on-board services, comfort, available space and desired routes.”

Once all these choices have been ironed out between Airbus, the customer and the vendors of buyer-furnished equipment, the contract detailing the modifications to the aircraft is signed and the design phase is launched. 

Integrating the XLR into existing A320 Family FALs

Once the details of an individual aircraft are confirmed, production can begin. After the main aircraft sections are manufactured, they are brought to the FALs so they can be assembled together. 

Justin Mörker is responsible for the integration of the XLR into the FALs in Hamburg, Toulouse and Mobile, Alabama. “My responsibility is to ensure that the FALs are ready for the start of the final assembly of the A321XLR,” he explains. “I am also responsible for coordinating the progress of the first aircraft through the FAL and managing any major critical changes driven by the new development, in order to ensure that FAL milestones are achieved on time.”

To overcome the challenge of integrating the XLR into multiple FALs at once, a staggered approach is used. “We integrated the XLR into Line 4 in Hamburg first, in December 2023, which will soon be followed by the others,” says Justin. “This approach ensures that we can share lessons learnt between the FALs, and that the challenges we run into can be solved in one FAL before we expand operations to the next one.”

The integration of the FALs is led by Justin’s centralised team, who liaise with the local launch team leaders in each FAL. In Hamburg, Thomas Luckel is the XLR FAL Launch Team Leader. “The goal of the launch team is to work closely with production to secure the integration of the XLR into the Hamburg A321neo FAL and to avoid any impacts of this introduction on the serial production abilities of the FAL.”

The main challenge of this task? The XLR capabilities had to be directly integrated into the assembly line amidst the continuous production of the A321neos already going through the line. “It was essential that every aspect of the process was ready and could be integrated smoothly, so that the line did not become blocked and cause a disruption to the production of the A321neo,” says Thomas. 

Making the jump from manufacturing to the flight line

Once the first XLR aircraft made its way through the FAL, it had one remaining hurdle before it could pass to the flight line: the FAL Operational Test (FOT). “The FOT meeting is a technical and conformity milestone, required to obtain the clearance for ground and flight PATM (production aircraft test manual) activities,” explains Justin. “This includes the opening of the Airbus Logbook and the issuance of the permit to fly. If the FOT is passed, the aircraft advances to the flight line stage.”

In Hamburg, Jannis von Hein is Head of Maintenance Engineering, Planning & Logistics for the A320 Family Customer Line. His team of maintenance engineers and technical planners are responsible for preparing all documentation, material and work orders for each FOT, and they also work on the flight line stage, which is when all ground and flight tests that are necessary before delivery are completed. “As with all new aircraft types, the XLR was closely followed through the first production process, and everything was tracked by the industrial and technical teams,” says Jannis. “The development and customer teams worked closely together to ensure that all the modifications were installed on the first customer aircraft. This is always challenging but it is essential to ensure the aircraft’s maturity when we hand it over to the airline customer."

By working together, the team succeeded in delivering the FOTs on-time. This was “a great achievement that has rewarded all our efforts,” enthuses Thomas. “I have the impression that all the people involved, from operators and managers to support staff, are very proud to work on a new aircraft.” Jannis seconded his take: “Everyone is happy to be part of this journey and eager to deliver these first aircraft to the customers. Working together on such a challenge created a positive spirit defined by a “can do” attitude, and the team is proud to have met such big milestones.” 

Time for delivery!

Once the aircraft makes its way through the flight line, there is an industrial handover and the aircraft moves to a delivery centre. The customer arrives onsite to complete the Technical Acceptance Process  and the title transfer. “This is the stage where you get to see customer satisfaction firsthand, when they see their new aircraft cabin and livery for the first time,” explains Marie-Pierre. “Five years of effort went into preparing these first customer versions of the XLR, and seeing their first flights makes it all worthwhile!"