Making Airstream trailers hasn’t changed much, still offering something to see
Airstream trailers are made in Jackson Center, Ohio, mostly by hand. The factory is open for public tours.
JACKSON CENTER — Who says manufacturing is dead in America? Not the 1,000 employees at the growing Airstream factory in tiny Jackson Center.
Every week, these Ohioans make, start to finish, 100 of these iconic, upscale RVs, for customers all over the world. Next year, they’ll be making even more.
The factory has been running at full capacity in recent years, as the industry enjoys what some are calling the Golden Age of RVing — a function of the growing number of baby-boomer retirees, low gas prices and a strong economy.
Airstream recently announced plans to nearly triple its manufacturing space in this west-central Ohio town, population 1,456, the only place in the world these aerodynamic, aluminum-clad campers are made.
It allows the public in to see how they do it at 2 p.m. every Monday through Friday.
Last year, more than 10,000 visitors took the free tour, which winds through a 250,000-square-foot factory three blocks from the center of town. Next year, the tour will move about a mile away, to a new facility set to open in May 2019.
“I’ve been here when things weren’t that good,” said tour guide Gary Byrd, an Airstream employee since 1961 who warned us that we’d be shoulder-toshoulder with employees on the factory floor.
After handing out earplugs and protective eyewear during this reporter’s tour, Byrd gave the group a rundown on company history:
• Founder Wally Byam started the company in 1931 in California, where he built its first factory. Looking for a site with more-centralized distribution, he opened a second factory in Jackson Center in 1952.
• After Byam’s death in 1962, Beatrice Foods bought the company. During the recession in the late 1970s, Beatrice closed the California factory and another plant in Versailles, Ohio.
• Thor Industries, the Indiana company that owns several RV brands, bought Airstream in 1980 and owns it today.
While a small percentage of the RV market, Airstream enjoys an outsized reputation, largely because of its iconic, Art Deco design and high-quality reputation.
Owners pay a high price for that reputation: These trailers run $36,000 to $160,000, depending on size and amenities.
On a recent tour, an Airstream owner watched the building of his RV.
“I just wanted to see what my trailer would look like going through the process,” said Ken Smith of St. Louis, who visited the factory four days in a row to see his 27-foot Tommy Bahama Special Edition trailer built. “I want to enjoy the experience as much as possible.”
Trailers today aren’t built all that differently than they were decades ago, Byrd said.
“You are not going to see robots on the tour today,” he explained. “There are no robots in this plant at all. There’s not much fancy equipment either. What you will see: men and women working with their hands.”
The factory reverberated with the sound of hand-held drills, as employees installed as many as 4,000 rivets per vehicle. Trailers are built chronologically, according to the order in which they were purchased.
After the body is formed, it’s lifted and placed atop a chassis. Then it’s time for windows, awnings, exterior detail and interior work. Near the end of this process, the vehicle goes into “the water-check chamber,” where the trailer endures 20 minutes of hard gushing water designed to uncover leaks.
Airstream makes its own furniture and windows, but buys refrigerators, air conditioners, TVs and other interior parts. The vehicles aren’t 100 percent American-made, but nearly so, according to Mollie Hansen, Airstream’s chief marketing officer.