Shop To Be Added To Boise, ID Facility

Western Aircraft tells ANN it recently began work to launch a full-service interior dhop this spring at its Boise, ID facility. The shop, called the "Interior Re-Completion Center," will provide interior upgrades on large business jets and turboprop aircraft. The company expects the Re-Completion Center to be operating in spring 2008.

"The Interior Re-Completion Center at Western Aircraft is an obvious next step for us," said President/COO Allen Hoyt. "Our heritage has been to focus on key airframes such as Falcon, Hawker/Beechcraft and Pilatus—and our business on those airframes continues to soar. We want to best serve the customers we have by adding depth to our services available for those key airframe operators. We are investing millions of dollars to support our customers in new ways."

For Interior Design and Sales, Western Aircraft has selected 20-year veteran designer Karen Cooper (right). She brings senior design experience from Gulfstream and McKinney Aerospace, where she completed custom projects for some of the most demanding customers in the world. Cooper has been working with Western Aircraft’s customers for a few months and preparing for the Re-Completion Center launch.

"The best interior starts with having the smartest design for a particular owner’s taste, and that comes by having superior knowledge of details," said Colleen Back, Vice President of Sales and Business Development. "Karen will design an interior with the materials, textures and colors that will give them an environment they want to live in, not just fly in. Several of our Falcon 2000 and 900 principals have already commented about her dynamic manner, and how enjoyable she made the design process. Even more importantly, she has an absolute dedication to managing the details on materials availability and quality, which helps customers feel very confident they will have a fabulous interior upgrade."

On the operations side, The Re-Completion Center will include a state-of-the-art 1,600 square foot spray/paint booth which will accommodate very long or wide single piece items, such as Falcon 7X drink rails and other large cabin business jet elements. Another 8,000 square feet of space will accommodate the shop’s upholstery and other support areas. In addition to this, the company has broken ground on a new 21,000 square foot hangar, which will handle some of the company’s space needs in the future. The company has launched an aggressive recruiting campaign to attract experienced craftsmen for the Re-Completion Center, and is hiring for positions from cabinetry finishers to sewers and shop team leads.

During the startup phase, Western Aircraft will draw on the knowledge from their own interior experience, with managers who have launched and managed interior shops in the past. The company has been involved with multiple Falcon Jet interior projects, and has years of experience on Pilatus PC-12 interior upgrades and modifications.

In addition, Western Aircraft will have resources from its sister company, Atlantic Aero in Greensboro, NC. The two companies were independent operations until 2007, and are now owned by Greenwich AeroGroup in Greenwich, CT. Atlantic Aero is noted for its Challenger, Hawker and late-model Learjet major interior refurbishments for large fleet operators, and maintains a 24/7 schedule with 40 interior craftsmen.

FMI: www.westair.com, www.greenwichaerogroup.com