Western Global Airlines (KD, Fort Myers Southwest Florida) has established an aircraft MRO facility at Shreveport Regional Airport, in Louisiana, airline founder and chief executive James K. Neff has announced.
A statement issued on Tuesday, May 8, said the cargo specialist would invest USD3 million into tooling and equipment to be housed in the airport's 14,100 square-meter Hangar 40 which it has secured on lease from the Shreveport Airport Authority. The hangar, which was used by ExpressJet Airlines (Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) through to 2016, will service Western Global's fleet of two B747-400(BCF)s and fourteen MD-11(F)s and will create over 450 direct and indirect jobs. Prior to this move, the carrier had relied on outsourced maintenance services for its needs.
To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package that includes a USD1 million performance-based grant to offset the cost of improvements to Hangar 40. Over time, Western Global may elect to obtain additional FAA certification enabling it to perform MRO work on third-party aircraft. During the next decade, Western Global will ramp up employment to 170 personnel.
“Western Global is pleased to select Shreveport for its worldwide aircraft heavy maintenance base,” Neff said. “Shreveport’s central location, abundant and competent workforce and state of the art large aircraft hangar makes it an ideal choice for WGA. We look forward to a very long term, mutually beneficial relationship with the City of Shreveport, the state of Louisiana and Louisiana Economic Development where we can grow together and make Shreveport a center for aircraft maintenance.”
