Southwest to open MRO facility in Baltimore

Southwest Airlines (WN, Dallas Love Field) is to build and manage a USD135 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Baltimore Thurgood Marshall following approval from the Maryland Board of Public Works.

The airline itself will invest about USD90 million in the project. The contract to develop the site and the lease agreement for the Texan budget carrier to build and operate the maintenance facility are valued at USD44.6 million, according to a statement by the authority.

The 109,265 sqm site will include a hangar to accommodate up to three B737s, an apron for up to eight jets, along with associated office and workshop space.

“Southwest Airlines began serving BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport 28 years ago, and we are honoured to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the airport, and to Maryland, by progressing with plans to build a first-class maintenance hangar to support our employees and customers,” commented Landon Nitschke, Southwest’s senior vice president of technical operations.

The new maintenance facility will be the first in the north-eastern US for Southwest Airlines.

The airline accounts for about 70% of passenger flights at BWI. It already employs more than 4,000 people at the airport, including technical and maintenance personnel.

BWI said it had seen a strong pandemic recovery in terms of passenger numbers. While still below 2019 figures, the airport’s departing passenger traffic in August was up 120% from the same period in August 2020.