Envoy Air is opening an aircraft maintenance facility at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field as part of a $2.5 million investment that will initially include up to 60 new jobs.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, flanked by airline representatives and city officials, made the announcement Tuesday morning inside a hangar at the airport in Little Rock.
That hangar, once home to Hawker Beechcraft Corp., is expected to be operational by the end of the year as the second Envoy Air maintenance facility in the state, Hutchinson told attendees.
Arkansas’ governor said Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, is coming to the state “because of the strength of our workforce, the central location in the United States, the available facilities and the team put together to encourage their location here.”
A short time later, Hutchinson directed attendees to the unveiling of the Embraer 175 aircraft that will be maintained at the 37,000-square-foot hangar — adding that most of the maintenance work on the fleet of 40 aircraft will occur in Little Rock.
Hutchinson said the fleet of 40 could grow to 90, adding more high-paying jobs in the region.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola told Arkansas Online that Tuesday’s announcement is a “tremendous shot in the arm for the airport to take a vacant hangar and to find a new use for it.”
Check back with Arkansas Online for updates on this story and read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Inside a hangar, officials unveil the type of aircraft that will be maintained at the airport. #ArkDG pic.twitter.com/Rqne6nVaIv
— Brandon Riddle (@BrandonCRiddle) September 13, 2016