Envoy Air Inc. will invest $2.5 million to renovate hangar space at Little Rock's Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field where it will operate a maintenance facility.
The facility is to be operational by the end of the year, and Envoy Air expects to hire up to 60 employees. A subsidiary of American Airlines Group LLC, Envoy Air operates a similar facility at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.
Envoy Air has a five-year lease to operate in the facility with two five-year extension options on 47,626 square feet. It will pay $21,131.35 per month to lease the space, which will require modifications to fit the aircraft being serviced there.
Fly Arkansas LLC, another aviation services company, is leasing 55,000 square feet in the former Hawker Beechcraft facility for $175,938 annually.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the company's decision to locate in Little Rock is part of an ongoing effort of state leaders to recruit aerospace and defense jobs for Little Rock. Envoy Air will receive $500,000 from the governor's quick action closing fund through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
"They are coming here because of the strength of our workforce, the central location in the United States, the available facilities, and the team put together to encourage the location here," Hutchinson said. "This adds to our efforts in aero-defense."
Arkansas currently has 180 aviation-related companies, Hutchinson said.
Envoy Air will use the Little Rock facility to service American Airlines aircraft flying to hubs in Dallas and Chicago. The company employs about 14,000 people nationwide and operates seven maintenance facilities with contract workers at three additional locations.
Up to four airplanes at a time will be able to undergo maintenance in the hangar once modifications are made to accommodate the new 76-seat Embraer 175 aircraft. American Airlines has purchased 40 of those jets to fly regional routes with an option to purchase up to 90 more.
American Airlines provides 15 daily flights from Little Rock to hubs in Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and Charlotte, N.C. The airline first began operating in the state in 1931 and has provided flights in Arkansas continuously since 1973.
A search to fill jobs in the facility will begin immediately. Positions available range from mechanics, inventory control clerks, management and support personnel, Envoy's Vice President of Maintenance Jay Murray said.
Salaries will range from approximately $10 per hour for the custodial staff to "well over" $20 per hour for mechanics, Murray said. He noted that the average hourly wage would be "well over $19 per hour" among employees, when including administrative staff members and other salaried positions.
Murray said Little Rock was attractive for a number of reasons, including its proximity to Northwest Arkansas. Having another Envoy Air facility nearby is beneficial.
"These bases can help support each other from an infrastructure and inventory supply chain standpoint," Murray said. "Little Rock is very central to our hubs in Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth. There is some modification to be done to the facility, but we will begin operating as soon as we have staff."
Hawker Beechcraft announced in November 2012 that it would close its operation in Little Rock. Airport commissioners hired a commercial real estate broker the next year to begin trying to sell the property, which when used by Hawker Beechcraft included seven buildings on 46 acres and approximately 400,000 square feet.
"We had some concerns about what we would do with this beautiful hangar and how we would be able to put it back to use," Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said.
Using incentives to seal the deal was imperative, Hutchinson said. Because the hangar space was designed specifically for Hawker Beechcraft, companies were concerned about the cost of upgrades to retrofit the facility for their needs.
"As this company looks here, they see a facility that is good, but not perfect," Hutchinson said. "They've got to widen and structurally change to get the aircraft in here. For us to sell them on this facility, we needed to commit to structural and infrastructure changes. ... We're making Arkansas competitive."
Business on 09/14/2016