Mike Parker: Aircraft Solutions USA just the latest piece in the GTP puzzle

On Dec. 19, 2019, Daniel Koechler of Aircraft Solutions speaks at the announcement of the company's decision to build a facility at the Global TransPark. Submitted photo.

When the news broke that Aircraft Solutions USA had committed to building a facility at the Global TransPark, I was excited and curious. Anytime a facility can bring upwards of 400 new jobs to our area, that prospect gives me hope for economic improvement.

James Pearce, public information officer for the Global TransPark and the Aviation Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, agreed to meet me so I could learn more about the company and its business. We sat down at Smith’s Café one morning to talk.

Aircraft Solutions USA is a branch of a German company opening its US facility at the GTP. The company serves two needs of the aviation industry. First, Aircraft Solutions will operate a traditional MRO, Pearce said. MRO stands for aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul. Second, Aircraft Solutions will also operate a recycling facility to salvage components from airplanes no longer airworthy.

“An airplane may not been airworthy, but that aircraft will still have usable parts, such as electrical wiring, navigation equipment, seats, and parts of the fuselage or engines,” Pearce said. Currently, Aircraft Solutions is able to remove and recycle 95 percent of the components of an airplane.

What would attract Aircraft Solutions to come to Kinston and to invest $99.7 million of its own money?

The Global TransPark (GTP) is a 2,500-acre complex with plenty of land to house a facility large enough to serve the twin purposes of the company, Pearce told me. Aircraft Solutions plans to build a plant that will be 130 feet tall, 900 feet long, and 420 feet wide. Three jumbo jets lined up nose to tail could fit into the building, he added.

Another draw was the length of the runway. The GTP’s runway is 15,000 feet long – nearly three miles. That runway is the second or third longest non-military runway on the entire East Coast.

“The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-255, could easily land and take off using the GTP’s runway,” Pearce said. He explained the AN-255 is so large that the fuselage of another large aircraft could fit inside the mammoth flying machine.  

The next major draw was the available workforce. Lenoir Community College has an avionics program. The college can also adapt to the instructional needs of this high-tech business.

The improved transportation system enticed Aircraft Solutions to choose to the GTP for its U.S. operations. Completion of the Harvey Parkway Extension will provide easy access interstate highways. The railway connections and nearby ports also make the GTP desirable.

Aircraft Solutions USA will generate 450 jobs for this area, jobs that pay an average salary of $47,000 a year, Pearce said. That figure is $10,000 more than Lenoir County’s current $37,000 average.

Groundbreaking for the new facility is set for summer of 2020, and Aircraft Solutions should open for operation in fall of 2021.

The news about Aircraft Solutions comes a year after the opening of Jetstream Aviation at the GTP. Jetstream Aviation uses an aerostatic process for painting airplanes. The facility also upgrades aircraft, Pearce said. Jetstream Aviation brought between 140 and 145 jobs to the GTP.

“Having these two facilities, Aircraft Solutions and Jetstream Aviation, at the GTP makes the GTP more attractive to other aviation-oriented companies,” Pearce said.

Most area residents do not understand the impact of “based aircraft” on the county’s tax base. A “based aircraft” is an airplane assigned to operate from the GTP.

“A $1 million jet based at the GTP has the economic impact on the tax base of 10 houses valued at $100,000 each,” Pearce said. “But that jet does not need sewer and water, and it does not have kids to educate.”

The GTP has now hit the critical mass needed for a Down East economic explosion. If so, the GTP will fulfill in earnest the hope of better jobs and economic prosperity for our economically-strapped area.

Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.