AAR will increase airframe support for United at both its Miami, Florida and Rockford, Illinois (pictured here) facilities.
U.S. MRO provider AAR will boost airframe maintenance capacity at Miami International Airport by a third after getting the green light to build a new hangar.
Local government has approved construction of a 114,000 ft.2, three-bay facility next to AAR’s existing nine-bay hangar, with work set to start in the second quarter of the 2024 fiscal year. The facility will house three narrowbody lines, as well as warehouse and back shop space. AAR expects to complete construction within 24 months.
The project will cost an estimated $50 million, with Miami-Dade County expected to reimburse the construction costs of the hangar over time.
AAR expects the new facility to support its recently enlarged airframe maintenance contract with United Airlines, which it announced earlier this week. Under the agreement, it will extend airframe MRO and heavy maintenance work for the airline through 2030. To grow this support, AAR will grow its dedicated airframe narrowbody capacity, providing United with a minimum of 10 lines of maintenance across its Miami, Florida and Rockford, Illinois, facilities. AAR says it will primarily be supporting United’s Boeing 737 aircraft under the contract extension.
“Expanding our relationship with AAR is an important step in building out our internal and external long-term heavy maintenance footprint to meet the demand for our growing fleet,” says Mike Arata, managing director of base maintenance for United.
According to Chris Jessup, chief commercial officer at AAR, the agreement is also expected to create hundreds of career opportunities for both locations. It expects the increased maintenance commitment to generate more than 250 jobs—a number it was also targeting in 2021 for maintenance technician job creation at its Rockford facility when it signed a previous airframe maintenance agreement with United in April of that year. AAR says it now employs close to 400 people at its airframe MRO in Rockford.
In its 2023 fiscal fourth quarter, ended May 31, AAR recorded sales of $553 million, 16% higher than the prior-year period.
Revenue from commercial aviation services increased 31% over the prior-year quarter, primarily due to further recovery in the commercial market.
Full fiscal year 2023 consolidated sales were $2 billion, an increase of 9% from fiscal year 2022.
“We expect continued growth in our parts business due to increasing demand for used material and the full ramp-up of recent new parts distribution contract awards,” said AAR CEO John Holmes, adding: “Our hangars are expected to remain largely full throughout the year.”
Moving forward, AAR will implement a new reporting structure that separates its aviation services into three new operating segments: parts supply; repair and engineering; and integrated solutions.
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