Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) has approved a new, two-year deal with Farmingdale, NY-based Empire Aviation Services to relocate its aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operation to Hangar Bldg. 425 at Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW).
“Securing an FAA-certified MRO operation at Detroit Metro Airport has been one of the Authority’s strategic development initiatives because of the skilled, technical jobs such a facility would bring to our region,” said WCAA CEO Tom Naughton. “We look forward to welcoming Empire Aviation to its new home at DTW and to the opportunities having them as part of our airport community will generate.”
This new lease agreement provides Empire with its own facility at DTW to which it recently transferred its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 145 MRO Certificate – enabling Empire to expand its MRO operation at DTW to serve airline customers.
“The Airport Authority’s development team has worked tirelessly to earn our business, and thanks in large part to their efforts, we look forward to calling Michigan home,” said Michael Romano from Empire Aviation Services. “With this new lease agreement in place, we have just received FAA’s approval to move our MRO Certificate from New York to our new DTW facility. We hope to begin our work at Hangar Bldg. 425 in the next 30 days.”
As a result of the new lease Empire Aviation will immediately add fifty new, highly-skilled technology jobs to DTW at Hangar 425. Empire expects to end the year with as many as 90 employees and estimates that they will end the two-year lease term with 150 employees.
Empire had considered moving its FAA Certificate to Maine, Indiana, California or maintaining it in New York before selecting Michigan as the best location to invest in the company’s future growth.
About Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Having welcomed more than 32 million passengers in 2012, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) is Michigan’s busiest airport and one of the world’s leading air transportation hubs. With service from 11 scheduled passenger airlines and three scheduled cargo carriers, DTW offers more than 1,100 flights per day to and from nearly 150 destinations on four continents. In 2010, DTW ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction among large airports in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airport Satisfaction Study. With two new, state-of-the-art passenger terminals, six jet runways, and an onsite AAA Four-Diamond Westin hotel, DTW is among the world’s most efficient, customer friendly and operationally capable airports in North America. DTW is operated by Wayne County Airport Authority, which also operates nearby Willow Run Airport—an important corporate, cargo and general aviation facility. The Airport Authority is entirely self-sustaining and does not receive any tax dollars to support airport operations. For more information about Metro Detroit’s airports, visit www.metroairport.com. Visit the Airport Authority’s website at www.wcaa.us.