The first group of employees who will support the production processes for Airbus’ U.S.-based A320 Family assembly line in Mobile, Alabama, reported for their on-the-job-training in Hamburg this week. Over the next months, the manufacturing engineers, station managers and a quality manager will work alongside their counterparts in Germany to become familiar with production tools and processes.

“We are very happy to welcome our new colleagues from Mobile to the Airbus family,” said Dr. Ulrich Weber, Head of Final Assembly Line USA. “They’ve been trained in Mobile over the past two months, but now they will be able to touch the aircraft and really learn how Airbus’ assembly process works.”

Hamburg is Airbus’ headquarters in Germany and is the home of the A320 Family program management team. Structural assembly and equipping of fuselage sections and final assembly of the A320 Family’s four members – the A318, A319, A320 and A321 – take place there.

Aircraft assembly in Mobile will begin in 2015, with first delivery scheduled for 2016.