Gulfstream Aerospace announced today at the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) that it has begun the development of a new component/repair/overhaul facility based at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW).
The maintenance base at DFW will provide service associated with structures, landing gear, wheels, brakes—the high-demand replacement items requiring regular attention on Gulfstream’s fleet of large cabin and long-range jets.
It’s a new facility from the ground up, and the process gave the team the ability to lay out flows from scratch. With a location on the airport adjacent to the cargo terminal, it is scheduled to go online late in the first half of 2023.
Workforce Additions
The workforce required to stand up such a facility is also another reason why the company looked to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, for expansion. “It’s not a new investment for us,” said Derek Zimmerman, in Gulfstream customer support, during a pre-event briefing with FLYING in September. Growth is challenging in times of restricted supply chains, he said, but “we recognized early on, [if we] build an awareness of and appetite for careers, and raise the visibility of aviation careers,” we build the workforce of the future.
“We employ most of the experienced Gulfstream techs [already]—since we service most of our aircraft” within Gulfstream’s own facilities. The DFW area had been an active local labor market for Gulfstream, with institutions such as Tarrant County Community College on the Alliance Airport (KAFW), and Fort Worth and north Dallas hosting a lot of people with strong aviation skill sets.
Expanding at Mesa
Gulfstream also has been adding capacity at its Mesa, Arizona, facility, at the Phoenix-Mesa-Gateway Airport (KAZA), with an expansion similar in size to one the company occupies today. Again, the local workforce is critical to the decision to grow in the Phoenix area. At Mesa, there is a community college on site, GateWay Community College; and Arizona State University Poly Tech also has a presence at the airport.
Servicemen and women transitioning from active duty abound in the region, and the company had hired more than 100 people already as of mid-September. Gulfstream opened the facility with existing space, and will be taking advantage of additional space, to create the “largest, most capable” center in the region.
Gulfstream expects the expanding facility to open by the third or fourth quarter of 2023, based on the construction materials supply chain and workforce availability for fabrication.
Service in Nigeria
Gulfstream also announced on Monday that ExecuJet Nigeria is its newest authorized warranty facility, with crew training at FlightSafety International on the maintenance programs held in September. The large-cabin fleet is the most popular among ExecuJet’s constituents.
All told, Gulfstream will have 14 company-owned service centers and repair facilities worldwide. Five of these are through its agreement with Jet Aviation, which handles Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. These MROs are complemented by 20 authorized warranty facilities globally.
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