Airbus Atlantic Portugal is warning everyone that not having enough vocational training is really hurting the aeronautics business. Kevin Giraud, the company’s new general manager, says Portugal still doesn’t have a good way for people to get the skills they need to build airplanes.
Giraud said at a Portuguese-French Chamber of Commerce event that while engineering schools are good, the industry really needs training for actual production work. “We build planes every day, but there's no vocational path in Portugal for aeronautics,” he said.
The company, which makes fuselage parts for the A320 and A350 in Santo Tirso and already has over 450 workers, has a hard time finding skilled people. Giraud wants the government to check out how France and Morocco do things, where they have training programs made to get people jobs in factories.
Airbus Atlantic is still growing in Portugal, increasing its facilities by 30% and hiring about 100 new people each year. The new production area should be up and running by the end of 2026.
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