DENVER—Frontier Airlines is close to designating a new home for its maintenance hangar, a multimillion-dollar operation that airports along the Front Range have bid for in hopes of landing new jobs.
Airline officials have said they hope to make their choice this summer.
“We’re down to the last part of the decision-making process,” airline spokesman Joe Hodas said. “We have certainly eliminated some sites, but we are still kind of choosing between a couple.”
Frontier’s long-term lease on a Continental Airlines hangar at Denver International Airport has expired. It has continued using the facility on a month-to-month basis.
The 101,000-square-foot hangar project, estimated to cost $30 million to $40 million, will be used for heavy maintenance on Frontier’s aircraft fleet, along with storage and related operations.
Seven airports from Fort Collins to Pueblo have submitted bids for the project, offering incentives such as tax breaks and other improvements.
Dennis Heap, manager of Front Range Airport in Watkins, said the project could help them receive taxpayer money for runway extensions so they could handle larger aircraft.
“It’s very important to the airport because it would be a driver for federal funds,” he said. “We need demand first to get those funds. It’s a big, big deal.”
