SkyWest Inc., a regional carrier for United Express and Delta Connection, plans to begin construction this month on a $19.8 million regional jet maintenance facility in Colorado Springs.
The 66,000-square-foot maintenance facility will elevate Colo rado Springs’ role in SkyWest’s route network. The airline has about 55 mechanics and 32 support and administrative employees in Colorado Springs.
Employment at the maintenance facility could grow 10 percent or more with the new hangar, said Todd Wilkinson, director of aircraft spares for SkyWest.
At Denver International Airport, SkyWest had about 8 percent of the domestic market share in December, the most recent statistics available.
“SkyWest will be putting jobs in Colorado Springs,” Mark Earle, aviation director at Colorado Springs Airport, said in an earlier interview. The carrier also has about 80 flight attendants and 103 pilots based in Colorado Springs.
In 2004, SkyWest started using a temporary leased facility in Colorado Springs, with plans to build a new one. The schedule has been delayed, and SkyWest changed the design from earlier plans. SkyWest expects the facility to be completed in early 2007. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will build the hangar.
The facility will allow SkyWest to increase the number of planes it works on nightly from about 11 to as many as 17. It will “benefit SkyWest and the community greatly,” Wilkinson said in an earlier interview.
Colorado is a good crossing point for the airline, and “it’s more economical to operate out of Colorado Springs than out of Denver,” according to Wilkinson.
SkyWest operates mostly “revenue flights” – with paying passengers – to bring planes in for maintenance, a positive for Colorado Springs Airport’s efforts to generate traffic.
Earle said the airport gives a 50 percent discount on landing fees when a revenue flight comes in and the aircraft is taken in for maintenance at the airport. He said SkyWest also benefits from tax incentives from the city.
Separately, another company, ARINC Direct, plans to grow its operations in Colorado Springs, Earle said.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
