Airbus hopes to hire locally

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - News of the airbus assembly plant coming to Mobile means a lot of new jobs are also headed our way.

However, that raises a poignant question: will the workers filling those jobs come from this area?

The company won't be hiring for at least another year, but Julia Henderson and her son Tim Pettis are already focusing on jobs with Airbus.

"I've been laid off for a while, so I'm going to go ahead and do that to see if they have anything for us," Henderson said.

"I’m actually getting my school paperwork ready to go for aviation, hopefully, by August," Pettis said.

READ MORE: Getting on board with Airbus

Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) is in charge of the hiring and training process for the manufacturing plant, but not its construction.

Jacqueline Allen with AIDT said hiring local workers to work in the factory will be a priority.

"That's always our first priority is to hire the citizens of Alabama. Of course, a lot of times, we have to extend that is because we don't have enough workforce to fill the jobs that we need locally, but we always try to fill locally first," Allen said.

It's the construction workers who will be hired first to build the new plant, and Mobile contractors are hoping most of that construction work will go to locals.

PHOTOS: Airbus flies into Mobile

John Walton has been a contractor for 35 years. He said promises from companies to hire locally haven't always worked out.

"As in the case of case of Thyssen-Krupp, that did not happen.  Some local folks got some work up there, but a lot of the bulk of the work in construction went to out of town contractors," Walton said.

Walton thinks the responsibility rests with state and local leaders.

"Like over in Mississippi when they give money out for incentives that they give they actually tied, and make sure local folks get the work. I think we could do that, but I don't think anybody has," he said.

Walton also thinks Alabama's tough new immigration law ensures contractors will hire legal citizens. Strict enforcement of the E-verify requirements went into effect in April.

Walton said, like everyone else, he'll have to wait and see.