West Star Aviation has announced plans for major facility expansion projects at its East Alton, Illinois (ALN), Grand Junction, Colorado (GJT) and Chattanooga, Tennessee (CHA) locations in order to keep pace with growing customer demand.
The GJT facility will receive a new 40,000 sq. ft. hangar with an additional 35,000 sq. ft. of shop and office. The shop space will include a larger interior shop, a complete composite shop and a tool room. The new facility will be focused on the expansion of large aircraft capability and is slated for completion in 2023. The expansion would increase the GJT location’s operational footprint from 304,000 sq. ft. of office, shop and hangar space to approximately 379,000 sq. ft.
Plans for the ALN facility include a new 40,000 sq. ft. general use hangar and an additional 48,000 sq. ft. dedicated paint shop and hangar that, when combined with existing paint facilities, will significantly increase paint capacity at the location. These additions will bring the ALN operational footprint to over 400,000 sq. ft. of office, hangar and shop space, with over 200,000 sq. ft of ramp space.
The CHA facility has a new hangar planned that will consist of 40,000 sq. ft. of active hangar space and an additional 17,000 sq. ft. of shop and support space. The expansion plans at CHA also include the lease of an existing 20,000 sq. ft. hangar on the field that will be leased from the airport. The planned expansion at the CHA location will increase the operational footprint from 179,828 sq. ft. to approximately 266,000 sq. ft.
“West Star has been one of the fastest-growing business MROs for past 20 years. This expansion plan is our most aggressive investment in our future to date,” said Jim Rankin, CEO of West Star Aviation. “We are committed to implementing sustainable growth that benefits both our customers and our employees. I’m very proud of West Star’s 1,500 employees who have continued to provide our unique, industry-leading experience to our customers even during these recent dynamic times. These expansion projects will ensure West Star Aviation will be well-positioned to meet customer needs for the next five years and beyond.”
