Kansas City, Missouri (July 24, 2014) ― Aviation Technical Services (ATS) formally opened its newly-renovated 607,000-square-foot MRO complex at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) with a ribbon-cutting and positive customer news today.
The private celebration welcomed Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, Airport Director Mark VanLoh, other community leaders, invited guests, employees and their family members and business partners.
Two such business partners, Hawaiian Airlines and Air Canada, officially committed programs to the ATS-KC facility. Hawaiian’s agreement for Boeing 767 heavy maintenance was formally signed earlier this week. This contract initially involves (2) nose-to-tail heavy checks beginning in September 2014 and has the opportunity to turn into a longer term, exclusive agreement. ATS recently completed a series of Airbus A330 interior modifications for Hawaiian Airlines at its facility in Everett, Washington, adding to the partnership. ATS was awarded Air Canada’s exclusive agreement for Boeing 787 modifications before the event’s formal program. The four-year contract solidifies and extends a previous version that had three (3) 787s completed at the ATS facility in Everett, Washington, earlier this year. The remaining 34 events will be inducted into the Kansas City facility starting in September 2014 and extending through 2018.
“Selecting Aviation Technical Services for these 767 heavy checks was a natural fit for our network and fleet given ATS’s extensive knowledge of the 767 as well as our recent success on the A330 modifications ,” said Lorrin Sardinha, Vice President of Maintenance and Engineering at Hawaiian Airlines. “We look forward to our continued partnership.”
Air Canada’s Vice President of Maintenance, Alan Butterfield, added, “Working with ATS on this next generation of technology is reassuring, and we are looking forward to continuing this important partnership.”
“This is a great day for ATS, our customers and the extended Kansas City community. The ATS team, the Aviation Department and Metropolitan Community College aligned well to get this operation up and running in just a few months—including a complete renovation of this hangar,” said Matt Yerbic, President and CEO of ATS.
“I’d like to sincerely thank Governor Nixon, the State of Missouri, including the Missouri Partnership and the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the City of Kansas City, Missouri, the Kansas City Missouri Economic Development Corporation, Platte County Economic Development Council and the Kansas City Area Development Council and many others for coming together to reignite the tradition of aviation in this area for airline customers and skilled aerospace workers, alike. Since we took the keys to the building, I’m proud to report that over 70 technicians and support folks have joined the ATS-KC team and we’re continuing to hire. The fact that these flagship carriers [Hawaiian and Air Canada] have confirmed their commitment to this facility today is very exciting,” he added.
About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international airline serving more than 180 destinations on five continents. Canada’s flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2013 served more than 35 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 60 Canadian cities, 49 destinations in the United States and 73 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world’s most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,269 airports in 193 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fifth consecutive year. For more information, visit AirCanada.com.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian® has led all US carriers in on-time performance for each of the past 10 years (2004-2013) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the highest of all domestic airlines serving Hawai‘i. Now in its 85th year of continuous service, Hawaiian is Hawai‘i’s biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service from its primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawai‘i from more U.S. gateway cities (11) than any other airline, along with service from Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa and Tahiti. New nonstop service will begin between Honolulu and Beijing, China in April 2014, subject to government approval. Hawaiian also provides approximately 160 jet flights daily between the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at HawaiianAirlines.com. For more information, visit HawaiianAirlines.com.
