American Airlines is expanding its operation at Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)—from gates and a dozen new destinations to maintenance operations.
As part of this, the Dallas/Fort Worth-based carrier opened a new $215 million maintenance hangar at ORD that is the largest hangar at the airport, and is the airport’s first new hangar in 30 years. It’s also the first newly constructed hangar at any of American’s hubs since its merger with US Airways.
The $215 million, 191,000-sq.-ft. structure, which will replace a smaller 60-year-old hangar, can accommodate six narrowbody aircraft, three widebodies, including the Boeing 787, or a mix of the aircraft. American operates 15 Dreamliner departures per day from ORD and plans to establish a 787 maintenance center of excellence at ORD now that it has the facilities and scale.
“The new hangar is a welcome investment in our maintenance team and a win for our customers, who will benefit from improved operational performance as a result of quicker maintenance,” American SVP-integrated operations David Seymour said.
Construction of the new hangar anticipates completion of the eighth runway at ORD, set for 2020. The airport also plans to open a new global terminal that will add the capacity of Chicago Midway to ORD, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. The global terminal would replace the Terminal 2 when finished.
American also opened a new ground-equipment maintenance building at the airport this month.
SOURCE ATW
