West Star Aviation opens Hangar 67, graduates first academy cohort

 

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
IBJ Managing Editor
[email protected]

The atmosphere was filled with a sense of success as West Star Aviation hosted a grand opening celebration to mark the opening of their new hangar in East Alton. An added cause for celebration also took place on Aug. 27, 2024, as the first cohort of the recently launched West Star Aviation Academy on-site was graduating and a second cohort was introduced.

The new hangar, officially named Hangar 67, adds 75,700-square-feet of space to West Star’s footprint at St. Louis Regional Airport, including 40,000-square-feet of dedicated hangar space and 35,700-square-feet of support space for the company’s advanced modification capabilities. This new facility brings West Star Aviation’s total hangar space in the U.S. to 1.5 million square feet.

While adding a significant amount of available hangar space, this expansion also enhances West Star Aviation’s capacity for interior, avionics and sheet metal services. It further enables the use of innovative production technologies such as its new ultramodern design center.

“This hangar opening is a great accomplishment in our history,” noted West Star Aviation CEO Stephen Maiden. “The completion of Hangar 67 represents another significant moment in West Star Aviation’s vision for the future. This facility not only enhances our service capabilities but also exemplifies our ongoing commitment to growth and innovation to ensure we are prepared to meet the needs of our valued customers.”

The $20 million investment in the East Alton facility includes state-of-the-art equipment and tooling as well, adding to West Star’s capabilities on-site. “It also means that we will hire as many as 80 new team members,” Maiden said further during the celebration event, noting yet another impact this would have on the economic development of the local community.

By the numbers, Hangar 67’s construction makes quite an impression. The reinforced concrete slab thickness is at 10 inches. It boasts hangar door dimensions of 30 feet by 210 feet. A total of 161 parking spaces have been added. It features 220 feet of clear span floor space. The amount of structural steel in place is at 347 tons, which was noted as equivalent to 46 Gulfstream G150 jets. 

Since its June 2023 groundbreaking, there were 48,614 total man hours involved in Hangar 67’s buildout. Hauled away from the site were 35,000 cubic yards of dirt – approximately 3,500 tandem dump truck loads. Just over 1,900 cubic yards of concrete were poured, and 10,800 square feet of office and storage area space has been put in place.

“This expansion is a testament to the incredible growth we’ve experienced at our East Alton facility,” said Brian Bauwens, general manager of the East Alton facility. “The added capacity and advanced resources will have a tremendous impact on our operations and our ability to serve our customers more efficiently.”

West Star Aviation worked closely with Contegra Construction and the St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) throughout the project. 

Danny Adams, airport director at ALN, highlighted the importance of the partnership between West Star Aviation and the airport. “Our longstanding partnership with West Star Aviation has been a driving force in the continued development of the St. Louis Regional Airport. We share in West Star Aviation’s commitment toward excellence and are privileged that they have chosen this location to grow their legacy of providing industry-leading service.”

In conjunction with West Star’s hangar expansion, St. Louis Regional Airport also completed a 56,000 square foot apron expansion. With support from the Illinois Department of Transportation – Division of Aeronautics, this apron expansion further enhances the airport’s capabilities and aligns with West Star’s growth, ensuring continued excellence in service and operations.

Immediately following official remarks from Maiden, Bauwens, and President/COO Allen McReynolds and the ribbon cutting to mark the grand opening of Hangar 67, the inaugural graduation ceremony from West Star Aviation Academy took place. 

There were 23 members receiving their graduation certificates. Next steps for these graduates included testing for their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airframe License. 

Maiden welcomed the graduates while noting that they had spent the last eight months working hard to accomplish this important milestone. Maiden also noted that WSAA received approximately 1,000 applications for the 25 spots that had been open in this first cohort, quipping that it was “harder to get into the West Star Aviation Academy than it is Harvard.”

With WSAA, applicants are carefully screened, interviewed, and if accepted, hired into a full-time, paid position while also completing their training. Participants are required to complete a customized Part 147 Airframe maintenance curriculum in a dedicated West Star classroom and learning hangar during their first 7.5 months of employment.

WSA Executive Chairman Jim Rankin further addressed the graduates. His first words to them: “Well, you did it.” He went on to note, “If you think your learning is done, you’re wrong,” before sharing that these graduates now represent the future of aviation and of WSA. He cautioned the graduates about becoming “comfortable” in their careers and encouraged them to stay open to continual learning.

Rankin also took a moment to introduce the second cohort of students who had recently begun their training at West Star Aviation Academy and would be the next class to graduate in about seven months.

Chief People Officer Katie Johnson added remarks in, noting that “this academy also reflects our commitment to our employees” before explaining the process that led to West Star Aviation proactively addressing the industry’s workforce shortage crisis by launching its academy. Bauwens further noted that the industry continues to face a projected shortage of roughly 48,000 aviation maintenance technicians in the immediate future.

Established in partnership with Southwestern Illinois College in January 2024, WSAA offers aspiring aviation technicians a unique way to gain the skill they will need to thrive and excel in the industry and chosen field. 

The first WSAA cohort of graduates to receive their certificates at this celebration were Brad Akridge, Quenten Alexander, Stephen Avery, James Bevirt, Josh Bick, Blake Coleson, Clayton Day, Jake Fields, Justin Franklin, Trystin French, Ethan Knolhoff, Kyle Kovarik, Vaughan Kuykendall, Cody Loftis, David Maag, Nicholas Metz, Hunter Smith, Isaac Spencer, Tanner Stallings, Koleden Stanton, Rob Valentine, Jesse Woolen and Christopher Zitta.

Established in 1947 as a small aviation company, West Star Aviation has evolved over the past 77 years into the largest aviation MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) provider in the country, with more than 3,000 employees and locations nationwide. In addition to its facility at East Alton, West Star has full-service facilities in Grand Junction, Colo.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Millville, N.J.; Perryville, Mo.; and Statesville, N.C., as well as satellite locations in Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, and West Palm Beach. 

The company’s extensive capabilities encompass maintenance, paint, interior, and avionics services, supported by the largest Aircraft On Ground (AOG) network in the country, ensuring prompt and reliable mobile repair services nationwide.

 

(Editor’s note: This story also appears in the October 2024 print edition of the Illinois Business Journal.)