- New facility is part of expansion plans in the U.S. to better support customers and capture growth opportunities
Pensacola, U.S. 27 February 2023 . ST Engineering today marked a significant milestone in its continued growth and expansion in Pensacola with the official inauguration of a new aircraft maintenance hangar at the Pensacola International Airport, which was attended by Florida Deputy Secretary of Commerce Laura DiBella and Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves.
The new facility is the second of four hangars at an airframe Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) complex being developed by ST Engineering. The new 177,000 sq. ft hangar features two bays capable of accommodating widebody aircraft, effectively doubling ST Engineering’s existing capacity in Pensacola and further solidifying its presence in the region. The hangar, which currently supports a major customer’s Airbus A300 program, started operations in January this year. When fully operational, it is expected to generate over 400 new high-value job opportunities for the local community.
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves expressed his excitement over the opening of the new facility and the continuation of the partnership with ST Engineering, saying, “We are thrilled to open another state-of-the-art facility and see our partnership with ST Engineering flourish. Ensuring quality job growth is crucial to the future success of Pensacola, and this new hangar is a major step forward for our citizens, airport and community.”
The airframe MRO complex that the new hangar is a part of is a project co-funded by ST Engineering, Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc., the City of Pensacola, Escambia County, the State of Florida, and various state and federal organizations. Upon completion, the complex will have a capacity of over two million man-hours and is projected to generate over 1,700 jobs, including skilled positions such as aircraft inspectors, airframe and powerplant technicians, as well as interior and avionics technicians. Construction of the third and fourth hangars is slated to commence in the latter half of the year.
Jeffrey Lam, President of Commercial Aerospace at ST Engineering, said, “The opening of this latest hangar for our airframe MRO complex comes at a time when air travel is rapidly recovering to pre-pandemic levels, giving us the necessary capacity to pursue new opportunities in the Americas and support our loyal customers.”
“We are thankful for the support from the community, organizations and institutions in Pensacola that have helped with the development and opening of our newest hangar,” said Timothy McBride, President of ST Engineering North America. “As the aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic, the airframe MRO complex will create hundreds of new job opportunities in the region. We are dedicated to working with state and local leaders to maintain Northwest Florida’s status as a national hub for the aviation industry, and to bring more high-quality engineering and aviation maintenance jobs to the community.”
In addition to its presence in Pensacola, ST Engineering also has aircraft maintenance facilities in other parts of the U.S., including Mobile, Alabama, and San Antonio, Texas. The Group also operates an aircraft engine nacelle manufacturing and MRO facility in Middle River, Maryland, and provides aircraft engine washing services through EcoServices in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
