Stelia Aerospace

Stelia Aerospace (stylised STELIA Aerospace) is an aerospace company headquartered in Toulouse, France.[1] It specialises in the design and manufacture of aerostructures, pilot seats and premium class passenger seats mainly for the commercial aviation sector.

Stelia Aerospace
FormerlyAerolia / Sogerma
TypeSociété par actions simplifiée
IndustryAeronautics
Founded1 January 2015
Headquarters
Toulouse
,
France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Cédric Gautier, CEO
ServicesAerostructures, Airline seats
Revenue (€2.2 Billion (2017))
Number of employees
6,900
ParentAirbus
Websitewww.stelia-aerospace.com

Stelia Aerospace was created on 1 January 2015 by the merger of two Airbus business units: Aerolia and SOGERMA. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus.

History

Stelia Aerospace can trace its origins back to two separate companies, SOGERMA and Aerolia. SOGERMA (Société girondine d’entretien et de réparation de matériel aéronautique) was a French company founded in 1924 amid the early days of aviation.[2] Prior to undergoing restructuring during 2006, the company has largely focused its activities upon the MRO sector;[3][4] but subsequently directed its resources into its specialist aerostructures and seating activities.[5]

AEROLIA SA was founded on 1 January 2009 as a spin-off of Airbus France's aerostructures activities.[6][7] This involved the Méaulte and Saint-Nazaire industrial plants, along with a design office in Toulouse. Its independence came as a consequence of several economic factors affecting the business; during 2007, EADS' management decided to respond to events, such a weakening US dollar and the high investment needed by both the Airbus A380 and A350 XWB airliners, by launching a restructuring initiative intended to streamline the group, divest several non-core activities, and cut costs.[8][9] Aerospace periodical Flight International compared the move to Boeing's then-recent spin-off of Spirit AeroSystems.[10]

On 1 January 2015, Stelia Aerospace was created via the merger of Aerolia and Sogerma.[11] The two businesses were considered to be 'complementary' to one another; at the time of its formation, Stelia Aerospace employed roughly 6,100 staff that were spread across 11 different locations.[12] Contracts previously undertaken by the prior two firms seamlessly carried over to the new entity, such as those for fitting out work on Airbus' airliners.[13]

During March 2017, the company inaugurated its new aeronautics factory in Méaulte, Northern France; this facility, which handles the production of the forward fuselages of Airbus airliners as well as the central fuselage of Bombardier Aerospace’s Global 7500 series of business jets, involved an investment of €70 million.[14] In February 2018, Stelia Aerospace demonstrated a metallic fuselage panel that had been manufactured using 3D printing techniques.[15][16] That same year, it was announced that the firm had acquired a majority shareholding in the Toulouse-based digital modelling specialist Portalliance Engineering.[17] In October 2019, it was announced that Stelia Aerospace would build a new assembly plant in Portugal at a cost of €40 million.[18] In February 2020, the company started a three-year partnership with Bombardier for the AILE (Aile Intelligente et Légère pour l’Environnement or Intelligent and Light Wing for Environment) research programme.[19]

Business activities

Stelia Aerospace has 3 main business segments:

  • Aerostructures
  • Premium class airline seats (First, Business, Premium Economy)
  • Pilot seats

Stelia Aerospace also manufacturers aircraft interiors.

Aerostructures
Wings of an ATR being delivered to Toulouse Final Assembly Line.

Stelia Aerospace designs and manufactures fully equipped aircraft fuselage sections from the nose to the rear, wings and special Work Packages such as main landing gear bay, A400M ramp door, helicopter tail boom.

A major portion of the company's business is the designing and manufacturing of aerostructures, including complex detailed parts comprising both composite and metallic materials. STELIA Aerospace claims that it is one of a small number of companies able to provide a fully equipped section (metallic and/or composite fuselage section, with all the tubes and wiring systems integrated), developing the “plug and fly” concept.

- Wings of the ATR family, which are fully equipped and tested up to the final test benches.[20]
- Central section of the Bombardier large business jet Global 7000/8000 central section.[21]
- Various sections of the Airbus A220, such as the cockpit and aft fuselage.[22]
- Elements of the Airbus Beluga XL, including the nose section, cargo door, and upper fuselage with pre-integrated systems (electrical, hydraulic, air conditioning, oxygen, etc.)[23]

Locations

Stelia Aerospace is a global business with 11 worldwide industrial facilities, with supporting offices.

LocationCountry / RegionFacility typeNotes
ToulouseFranceIndustrialHeadquarter functions and core-engineering
MéaulteFranceIndustrialNose assembly and large composite
RochefortFranceIndustrialSection assembly and seats
Saint-NazaireFranceIndustrialDetailed parts
MérignacFranceIndustrialWings
SalaunesFranceIndustrialComposite detailed parts
M GhiraTunisiaIndustrialDetailed parts and assembly
CasablancaMoroccoIndustrialComposite detailed parts and assembly
Lunenburg, Nova ScotiaCanadaIndustrialComposite detailed parts
Mirabel, QuebecCanadaIndustrialSection assembly
HamburgGermanySupport officeAirbus Final Assembly Lines support
BangkokThailandSupport officeCommercial offices
SeattleUSASupport officeCommercial offices
Los AngelesUSASupport officeCommercial offices
MiamiUSASupport officeCommercial offices, and airline support
United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab EmiratesSupport officeAirline support
SingaporeSingaporeSupport officeAirline support
BeijingChinaSupport officeAirline support

References
  1. 2017 Annual Report. Airbus. 2017. p. 113.
  2. "Company Overview of EADS Sogerma S.A." Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  3. Morrison, Murdo (12 December 2006). "Sogerma overhaul". Flight International.
  4. Kaminski-Morrow, David (3 November 2008). "Manager buys out EADS Sogerma landing-gear MRO unit". Flight International.
  5. Gubisch, Michael (10 April 2013). "INTERIOR: Sogerma unveils premium seat siblings". Flight International.
  6. Gubisch, Michael (11 July 2012). "FARNBOROUGH: Aerolia on expansion course". Flight International.
  7. Gubisch, Michael (18 June 2011). "Aerolia runs up A350 panel production". Flight International.
  8. Morrison, Murdo (19 May 2014). "ILA: Premium Aerotec gears up to meet the demands of parent Airbus". Flight International.
  9. "Comment: Airbus's blessing in disguise". Flight International. 13 January 2009.
  10. Morrison, Murdo (10 July 2009). "Free spirit builds its destiny". Flight International.
  11. Thisdell, Dan (15 April 2015). "INTERIORS: Rebranded Stelia sets out Celeste seating concept". Flight International.
  12. "Aerolia and Sogerma merge into Stelia Aerospace". sampe-europe.org. 17 December 2014.
  13. Steinmetz, Juergen T. (21 June 2017). "Contract renewed: Stelia Aerospace Airbus". eturbonews.com.
  14. "STELIA Aerospace inaugurates its Aeronautical Factory of the Future in Méaulte, France". industryeurope.com. 20 March 2017.
  15. Gubisch, Michael (18 February 2018). "Stelia manufactures fuselage panel through 3D printing". Flight International.
  16. Davies, Sam (19 February 2018). "STELIA Aerospace utilises Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing to build fuselage panel demonstrator". tctmagazine.com.
  17. Gubisch, Michael (22 November 2018). "Stelia takes over digital engineering partner Portalliance". Flight International.
  18. "Airbus-owned Stelia Aerospace to build Portugal assembly plant". Reuters. 29 October 2019.
  19. "Stelia Aerospace participates in AILE project with Bombardier". jeccomposites.com. 7 February 2020.
  20. Morrison, Murdo (16 June 2015). "ANALYSIS: Revamped production line allows ATR to ramp up". Flight International.
  21. "Stelia Aerospace – Assembling Global 7500 Fuselages in Mirabel". airinsight.com. 19 April 2019.
  22. Kaminski-Morrow, David (13 February 2020). "Airbus to shift A220 cockpit and fuselage work to Mirabel site". Flight International.
  23. Kaminski-Morrow, David (10 July 2017). "Beluga XL upper fuselage shipped to Airbus line". Flight International.
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