Southwest Airlines has just beefed up its presence in the Valley of the Sun, launching a colossal new hangar facility at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. This 90,000-square-foot hub is part of the airline's strategic expansion in the Western U.S., and Phoenix is reaping the benefits. The airline held a ribbon-cutting on Feb. 16 to christen the new space, according to Phoenix Business Journal.
The addition of this hangar means that Southwest now has a staggering total of more than 150,000 square feet of hangar space at Sky Harbor. It's said to be one of the largest in its network, accommodating three more aircraft for their Technical Operations at the airport. Following the expansion, they're prepping to bolster the local Technical Operations team with new hiring to keep up with the expansion, ABC15 reported.
This sprawling space isn't just for show; it's slated to become a vital cog in the Southwest machine, serving as a delivery point for new Boeing aircraft and playing a key role in the airline's Western U.S. operations. Southwest Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson illuminated the strategy behind the placement of such a facility in Phoenix, telling the Business Journal, "You need centers of gravity around your network to support your aircraft. For the West, it's Phoenix for us," as per Phoenix Business Journal.
What does this hangar mean for the local job market? Big things, if Watterson's projections are accurate. With the new concourse also opened at Terminal 4, the company is looking at a possible 20% spike in its employee count, year-over-year from 2023 to 2024, Sky Harbor being a significant beneficiary of this growth. Currently housing over 5,400 Southwest employees, the Phoenix area's workforce could well see a considerable uptick. Notably, the carrier already topped its pre-pandemic passenger statistics, having ferried over 15.9 million passengers through Sky Harbor in 2023 alone.
