Aircraft maker opens Alliance maintenance center, will tap Tarrant area colleges for workers
Business aircraft manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. opened a new service center at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport on Tuesday.
The 82,000-square foot hangar can accommodate up to nine aircraft.
Derek Zimmerman, president of customer support, likened the approximately $55 million service center to a maintenance garage.
“Much like cars, our airplanes come in and they need inspections and they need to replace things that have worn out,” he said. “Or maybe they need an upgrade and new product installed.”
Gulfstream already has a service center at Dallas Love Field Airport, but Zimmerman said Alliance’s focus on business aviation and the presence of available land made Fort Worth an attractive choice.
“This part of the Fort Worth and Dallas area (has) a great labor market for us to draw new employees from, affordable housing, high quality of life,” he said. “So great for employees to live and work someplace close to where we wanted to operate.”
The Fort Worth service center will employ approximately 200 workers. Some will transfer from Love Field and others will be hired from local colleges, according to a Gulfstream news release.
Gulfstream is partnering with Tarrant County College’s airframe and powerplant program and will hire some of the new technicians from there, the news release said.
“We bring in experienced workforce with us to Alliance, but we will be creating the next generation of workforce as well as we grow,” president Mark Burns said in his opening remarks at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Zimmerman said the Fort Worth service center operates on 100% renewable energy.
“We’ve learned a lot about how to build for efficiency but also to build to be a good community member,” Zimmerman said. “We want to make sure that we minimize our footprint in all the communities that we serve.”
Gulfstream, which is based in Savannah, Georgia, has been designing and manufacturing business aircraft since the late 1950s. Three new aircraft will be on the market soon, according to Zimmerman.
Gulfstream caters to a variety of customers, including governments, special missions and companies that use the planes to transport employees to areas not served well by commercial airlines.
“Whether its VIP transport or a medical evacuation, that if you need to do things that don’t fit the model of commercial reliance, we’re really complementary to that,” he said.
This story was originally published October 4, 2022 at 4:08 PM.
