Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) will start construction on a USD100 million maintenance hangar at Denver International this summer. The new facility is expected to be completed in late 2020.
There will be space inside the 12,000-square-metre (130,000 square feet) hangar for the airline's mechanics to work on up to three B737s, with outside parking and facilities for an additional eight aircraft, Southwest said in a press release.
The facility will house the 75 technical ops employees currently working in Denver, the airline added. Focussed on routine maintenance, they are part of the carrier's 4,000-strong Technical Operations department. Once opened, the hangar will join six others belonging to the airline at Dallas Love Field, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, Chicago Midway, Houston Hobby, Orlando International, and Phoenix Sky Harbor.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly opened the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Denver on May 15 by describing the city as “without a doubt the fastest-growing city” in the LCC's history, The Denver Post reported.
Southwest began services from Denver in January 2006 with 13 daily departures. By August 2019, it expects 224 daily departures out of the city to 70 destinations, Kelly said.
Denver is currently Southwest's fourth most important airport behind Chicago Midway, Las Vegas Harry Reid, and Baltimore International, according to the ch-aviation capacity module. It accounts for 205,312 of the airline's total 4,021,451 weekly seats (5.11%) and 1,344 of 26,725 weekly frequencies (5.03%).
However, Southwest is second in Denver by capacity to United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), which operates 327,363 flights, or 43.51% of the airport's total compared to Southwest's 27.29%.
