Yingling Aviation has opened a full maintenance and service facility in a leased 10,000-square-foot hangar at the Independence Municipal Airport in Independence, Kansas, adjacent to Cessna Aircraft Co.’s manufacturing site at the southeastern Kansas location. The newly established Yingling site is a Cessna Authorized Service Facility and will provide full service and warranty support for Cessna single engine aircraft including the Skyhawk, Skylane, Stationair, and Corvalis models that are built in the Cessna factory, which has been producing aircraft since it opened in Independence on July 3, 1996.
Yingling and the City of Independence have made significant investments in the leased World War II vintage hangar, installing new lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, tooling and equipment and renovating existing maintenance and office space, company officials said.
Established as a maintenance and repair operation (MRO) on the airport, the facility currently employs a half dozen people with that number potentially growing to 15-30 as activity levels increase.
“The proximity between Yingling and Cessna has always been a positive factor in the relationship between the two companies and it has been especially true in recent years in Wichita,” noted Lynn Nichols, Yingling’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have been able to complement and provide supplemental services that have assisted the factory in Wichita in meeting the needs of customers in areas such as parts distribution, the Oasis Caravan interior program, technical product support, aircraft modifications and SkyCatcher assembly. When it became obvious that there was an opportunity to play a similar role in Independence and establish a facility that could, at the same time, provide a new Cessna service alternative for aircraft operators in the four-state area of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma, we knew this initiative had merit,” he added.
The company has named Greg Olson service manager to lead its efforts in Independence. He was formerly with Cessna in Independence.
For more information: 316-943-3246 or YinglingAviation.com
