AAR CORP., has signed an agreement with United Airlines (United) to extend its existing airframe MRO services relationship through 2030 and expand its heavy maintenance commitments. Under this agreement, AAR has committed to growing its dedicated airframe narrow-body capacity to provide United Airlines a minimum of ten lines of maintenance support across AAR’s Miami, Florida and Rockford, Illinois, MRO facilities.
To support the additional lines of maintenance, AAR will add a new three-bay hangar adjacent to its existing nine-bay facility. On July 19, AAR has received approval from the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners to proceed with the construction of a 114,000 ft² facility adjacent to the company’s existing hangar at Miami International Airport. AAR plans to break ground on the new facility in Q2 of its FY2024 and complete construction within 24 months. Over time, Miami-Dade County is expected to reimburse the anticipated US$50 million cost to construct the hangar. This will increase capacity at AAR’s Miami Airframe MRO by 33%.
United’s increased maintenance commitment is projected to create more than 250 AAR careers in the Miami and Rockford communities and grow revenue for Miami International Airport. AAR looks to leverage its well-established approach to workforce development to enhance its efforts to build a best-in-class workforce by hiring a diverse, highly-skilled team to support the additional workload.
“United and AAR have enjoyed a long, successful relationship based on AAR’s reputation for safety, quality, and reliability,” said Mike Arata, Managing Director of Base Maintenance for United Airlines. “Expanding our relationship with AAR is an important step in building out our internal and external long-term heavy maintenance footprint to meet the demand for our growing fleet.”
