PPG Invests $70 Million in Alabama Aerospace Window Operations
Image courtesy of PPG.
PPG announced a $70 million investment in its Huntsville, Alabama, aerospace transparencies operation. The project supports aircraft cockpit and passenger windows, rather than an expansion of coatings production.
The company will lease and build out a 112,000-square-foot facility for production support activities. Moving those functions will release space for manufacturing at the existing site and accommodate future equipment investments.
Francois Buehlmann, general manager of global transparencies for PPG Aerospace, said demand is increasing across commercial, military and general aviation. He described the project as a way to improve operating efficiency and support customers while maintaining the company's investment in Huntsville.
The work is part of a multiyear series of capacity projects. PPG has manufactured aerospace transparencies in Huntsville for more than 55 years.
Separate Coatings and Sealants Investment
The announcement follows PPG's May 2025 plan for a $380 million aerospace coatings and sealants plant in Shelby, North Carolina. That project was designed to expand production of aircraft coatings and sealants, unlike the window-focused Huntsville investment.
At the time of the Shelby announcement, PPG described a 198,000-square-foot facility on a 62-acre site and said the project would create more than 110 jobs. The company then targeted completion in the first half of 2027.
The two investments address different parts of PPG's aerospace portfolio. Huntsville provides additional room for transparencies manufacturing, while the previously announced Shelby project was intended to increase coatings and sealants supply. PPG's aerospace business also supplies engineered materials and related services.
The investment adds context to aerospace supplier spending, while the separate Shelby project directly addresses industrial coatings and sealants capacity.
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