Summary
- Southwest Airlines doubles maintenance hangar in Phoenix, expanding with $100 million project.
- Airlines committed to sustainability with eco-friendly expansion materials and carbon emission reduction goals.
- Phoenix mayor and Southwest COO express gratitude for community investment and growth.
On February 16, the most important MAX operator and the world’s largest low-cost carrier, Southwest Airlines, celebrated the winding up of a $100 million project spanning several years. The project saw an expansion of 90,000 square feet, doubling Southwest’s maintenance hangar at Phoenix Sky Harbor. This also allowed the airline so as to add three recent aircraft bays to the ability.
Arizona and the Southwest connection
Southwest began its operations within the busiest three-runway airport on this planet, Sky Harbor, in January 1982. Starting its operations with a fairly humble figure of 13 each day flights, Southwest now sees 220 departures a day here. Last yr, employees at Southwest volunteered greater than 416 days value their time to the causes of bettering the lives of individuals in Arizona.
Photo: Southwest Airlines
The expansion of the upkeep hangar at Sky Harbor signifies that work might be done concurrently on five aircraft. The addition of maintenance shops will end in support for the airlines’ technical operations employees based at Sky Harbor. The doubling of its maintenance hangar in Phoenix also got here with a more voluminous facility for workers handling ground support equipment maintenance in addition to provisioning.
This paints Southwest Airlines in a great light after it needed to pay $422,000 in fines last yr. The penalties got here after claims that the airlines retaliated against the mechanics who were using their earned sick time.
![Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 N8326F departing Runway 7L at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/shutterstock_2349709425.jpg)
Southwest Airlines Facing Over $400,000 In Arizona Labor Fines
The airline argued that its bargaining agreement with aircraft mechanics is subject to federal labor laws.
What the airline and Phoenix’s mayor needed to say
On the completion of the project, The Chief Operating Officer at Southwest Airlines, Andrew Watterson, commented:
“The Safety-first work to support a continuous renewal of our fleet advantages our entire network and the community. Investing in our Arizona-based People by equipping them with the newest tools, enhanced processes, and functional spaces is one of the crucial impactful investments we are able to make at Southwest Airlines and our future in Phoenix.”
Photo: Eliyahu Yosef Parypa | Shutterstock
The mayor of Phoenix, Kate Gallego, was buoyant that town benefited from the extension of Southwest’s operations:
“We’re grateful to Southwest Airlines for believing in Phoenix and going above and beyond to plant roots in our community, whether it’s through expanded operations or countless volunteer hours with local organizations. Phoenix is proud to be a significant service marketplace for Southwest and we stand able to proceed welcoming thousands and thousands more passengers to the Valley of the Sun!”
Paving a way forward for sustainability
Southwest Airlines is devoted to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and plans to chop down the intensity of its carbon emissions in half by 2035. It also expects to switch 10% of its jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.
Photo: Southwest Airlines
The airline’s dedication to sustainability goals also trickled into the expansion of its maintenance hangar. In total, 30% of the constructing materials were made up of recycled content. The products utilized in the development got here from manufacturers that had verified environmental performance. The prolonged hangar also comes with a high-reflectance roof to ward off the warmth island effect. The encircling paving materials were also chosen with this effect in mind.
Southwest also has a pledge to chop down the energy utilization index at its headquarters by 50% by 2035. Along with the dedication towards sustainability it showed during this project, the airline also has set its sights on carbon removal by Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and cooperating with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to optimize air traffic routes to realize lower emissions.