During the first week of February 2024, Duncan Aviation opened the doors of our newest, state-of-the-art airframe maintenance hangars in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Battle Creek, Michigan, to officially usher in the first business jets scheduled for maintenance. A GL5000 was the first aircraft to roll into the Lincoln hangar and a CL300 was the first in the Battle Creek hangar. Both looked small all by themselves in the expanse of newly constructed hangar space, but they weren’t alone for long.
Both construction projects boast a spacious 46,000-square-foot maintenance hangar with 32-foot-high hangar doors and enough floor space to hold four ultra-large aircraft simultaneously. Additional 62,000-square-foot, two-floor buildings provide shop and storage space, training rooms, customer offices, customer lounge, and office space.
Duncan Aviation collaborated closely with our long-standing general contracting partner, Tectonic Management Group, leveraging the latest advancements in green construction technologies. Sustainability features include light harvesting, radiant floor heating powered by energy-efficient boilers, LED lighting fixtures equipped with sensors, and automatic dimming capabilities. These buildings and systems are engineered to surpass standard energy codes by more than 25%.
Jeff Lake, President and CEO of Duncan Aviation, says the official opening of the two maintenance hangars was necessary to stay competitive. “We did not build these hangars to gain market share, but to maintain our market share in a growing industry.”
With hangar capacity becoming increasingly constrained and aircraft size getting larger, the need for expanded maintenance facilities has never been more pressing.
Beyond the hangar construction, Duncan Aviation’s expansion strategy also focuses on investing in our most valuable asset: our people. Recognizing a large number of impending retirements, the company has made significant efforts to grow our team through initiatives such as the Duncan Aviation Apprentice A&P Program, with classrooms at all three Duncan Aviation MRO locations. The program has US DOL (Department of Labor) certification and approval from the Veterans Administration. Apprentices who complete the 24-month program may earn an Airframe and/or Powerplant certificate and be awarded a DOL certificate. The programs have been expanded to include structures and avionics components and will continue to grow to include more skills.
This and other recruiting efforts are paying off. During the 18-month construction period, the airframe and engine departments saw a 16% increase in staffing, adding 64 new technicians. This investment in workforce development ensures a skilled labor pool for the future and reinforces Duncan Aviation’s commitment to providing high quality service to our customers.
The total expected investment for both expansion projects is approximately $66 million. “Duncan Aviation has consistently reinvested at least 80 percent of its profits back into the company and its team members in the form of facility expansions, capital improvements, and training,” says Jeff.
These expansions are further made possible because Duncan Aviation’s team members are committed to quality and customer service. Duncan Aviation is a preferred MRO among jet operators, and it shows. Day in and day out, from sales to production and beyond, team members deliver on promises and do what is right.
The business aviation industry is projected to grow rapidly over the next several years. Even as these new hangars come online, Duncan Aviation is far from exceeding the capacity needs of a growing customer base. Our schedule backlog continues to build confidence that Duncan Aviation is growing in an exciting and yet responsible manner.
Duncan Aviation’s next expansion is a new 36,000-square-foot Pratt & Whitney Canada Designated Overhaul Facility in Lincoln, which is currently underway. The expansion is adjacent to Duncan Aviation’s Honeywell Authorized Service Facility and features 12 engine maintenance bays, dedicated storage racks, a new parts inventory warehouse, and expanded backshops.
The demand for quality backshop capabilities multiplies as hangar expansions increase the number of aircraft onsite for maintenance. Duncan Aviation will look hard at expanding shop space and capabilities for landing gear, batteries, accessories, and avionics/instruments. In the future, we will also look at expanding paint hangar capacity.
The expansion in Lincoln that added 108,000 square feet of space included the refurbishment of an existing hangar complex to add a larger training room, 10 new customer offices with a customer lounge, a team member breakroom, restrooms, meeting rooms, and new office space for Airframe Managers and Tech Reps.
The new hangar is surrounded by 125,000 square feet of ramp space. The new adjacent building provides 2.5 stories of backshops and storage space for all the large exterior panels, interior components, and engine cowls found on the largest business aircraft. The Lincoln facility now has 880,000 total square feet of space.
Battle Creek’s expansion began in August 2023 with a new vehicle maintenance building that can accommodate the largest of our fuel trucks. A new decontamination wing with a blowdown booth was also added to the existing paint hangars for team member safety.
Two support buildings flank the new hangar. One building includes new and updated backshops for engines, nondestructive testing, calibration lab, structures, interior services, and a large warehouse and consumable rooms to support this hangar’s activity. The 2nd floor adds a breakroom, locker rooms, customer offices, lounge, and administration areas.
The second building will be primarily used for storage but also has ample meeting room space for facility-wide meetings and large training events. Altogether, the new hangar complex is 106,000 square feet, giving the Battle Creek facility a total of 545,000 square feet of space.
For Duncan Aviation, welcoming jets into our new maintenance hangars means more than a physical expansion. It is a testament to the company’s commitment to quality, service, and the growth and advancement of our greatest asset, our team members.