West Star Aviation’s latest expansion, a new 47,000-square-foot maintenance facility at its East Alton, Ill., (ALN) location, is now open. A ceremonial ribbon cutting and open house was held May 13, to celebrate the completion of the new facility and commemorate the milestone expansion.
The open house was held at the new hangar, where St. Louis Regional Airport manager David Miller, members of the Airport Authority Board of Commissioners Darrell McGibany and Steve Kochen, along with Samuel Haycraft, Michael Durst, Jim Swehla, Robert Rasberry, and Eric Kujawa from West Star cut the ceremonial ribbon to signify the opening of the new facility and kick off the celebration.
Guests at the reception included members of the board of directors for West Star Aviation, a select group of vendors and customers, and West Star employees.
“We are extremely excited to have the new facility open and ready to take on new jobs,” says Eric Kujawa, General Manager (ALN), West Star Aviation. “A great deal of work went into the expansion and we are grateful to all parties involved who worked to complete the large project, especially West Star customers, who made it all possible.”
In addition to the new maintenance facility, the multimillion dollar expansion includes a 14,000 square-foot wood shop and 6,000-square-foot accessory repair shop, bringing the East Alton facilities from 250,000 to 317,300 square feet with approximately 300 employees.
With the additional hangar and shop space, West Star also has 36 new employment opportunities at the ALN facility. The openings are in several areas including Gulfstream, Falcon and Avionics Technicians. To learn more about all of West Star’s employment opportunities, click here.
The original plans for expansion at ALN came in response to the high demand of West Star Aviation customers, which had the current facility operating at maximum capacity.
West Star Aviation specializes in the repair and maintenance of airframes, windows, and engines, as well as major modifications, avionics installation and repair, interior refurbishment, surplus avionics sales, accessory services, paint and parts.
In addition to its facilities in East Alton, Grand Junction, Colo., and Columbia, S.C., West Star Aviation runs the maintenance operations at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colo., and at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Mo. The company also provides FBO services for transient aircraft at its newly remodeled East Alton and Grand Junction facilities.
For more information: WestStarAviation.com or call 800-922-2421.