Close to a month after lease agreement announcement for United Airlines Orlando Maintenance Repair Overhaul Complex at Orlando International Airport was made, the city council weighed in on the lease on the 11th, and made it official.
The lease agreement in question is between the Chicago-based airline, United Airlines, and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA). The lease will provide enough space to have what the airline may call as its “largest hangar”.
United Airlines currently houses its airplanes, maintenance staff and “stuff” in three facilities – two hangars and a warehouse. Upon feasible completion, the new 354,400 square-foot Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) complex in the Orlando International Airport will be the largest for United Airlines.
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The MRO complex
The cost for the construction of the United Airlines’ Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) complex is tagged at $300+ million. The project has the following objectives:
- Construction of a new hangar
- Installation of a new warehouse
- Renovation of Hangar 407 that is already in-lease and in use
- Demolition the 70-year-old Hangar 431 after the airline relocates – estimated timeline is set to the end of 2027
- Construction of offices, shops, parking and work spaces for the staff
Upon completion, MRO complex will accommodate between four and six airplanes at once at a given instance. Six if they are all narrow-bodied, and four is one is wide-bodied and the other three are narrow-bodied.
About 1000 maintenance staff will be facilitated for in the new complex.
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Project timeline and costs
The lease officiated by the city council will span 30 years post construction. It will also feature an additional 10-year period. This is however separate from the two years of construction outlined in the lease. The construction period will see the airline spend about $6.7 million in rent if on-site work begins in the first quarter of 2025 as projected. Construction work is expected to be complete by end of 2027.
The post construction lease, and the optional 10-year period will see the airline spend $229 million. With the former raking $141 million, and the latter $88 million.
What the project offers
GOAA currently operates two of Florida’s airports: Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Orlando Executive Airport. MCO has three terminals that currently serves more than 57 million travelers annually with United Airlines ranking as the airport’s seventh largest airline in the past year.
In the press release on October – when the lease agreement between the two parties was signed – Kevin Thibault, GOAA’s CEO termed the project as a “game-changer”. He remarked the new facility as, “state-of-the-art”. Mr. Thibault was also optimistic that the project will, “create jobs” and, “stimulate economic growth and solidify MCO’s position as a hub for aviation excellence”.
United Airlines Senior VP of Technical Operations, Maria Deacon, also expressed her delight by describing the project as part of a larger strategy to expand the airlines footprint in Orlando. This she said will be through, “improved reliability and being more proactive and predictive about each airframe we work on in Heavy Maintenance.”
The project is definitely set to be a haven for immense opportunity for future airspace development.
