DESMOINESguy

This was big on the local news tonight. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app.../1029/BUSINESS

Guess we'll be getting even more CRJ's into and out of DSM. All in all, though, I think this is a good fit and a win/win. DSM is a solid NWA outstation with close feeds to all 3 hubs, plus obviously lower overhead for wages, facilities, etc. Sounds like we'll see our share of 900's in addition to the dreaded 200's in DSM:

Mesaba to open aircraft facility at DM airport
REGISTER AND WIRE REPORTS

August 6, 2007

Mesaba Airlines will open an $11.8 million aircraft maintenance center at the Des Moines airport that will provide 30 jobs, officials announced Tuesday.

Work on the maintenance facility will begin later this year, and construction is scheduled for completion in late 2008. Jobs will include managers and technicians.

Officials from Eagan, Minn.-based Mesaba, a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, made the announcement at a news conference held on an airport runway. They were joined by U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie and airport administrators.

The new center will house four aircraft bays, where workers will maintain 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 jets and new 76-seat CRJ900 jets.

“Its a real coup for all of Iowa,” said James Erickson, chairman of the board of directors for the Des Moines International Airport said at the board meeting this morning.

In July, Senator Tom Harkin, D-Ia. wrote a letter to the President and CEO of Northwest Airlines Douglas Steenland urging him to choose Des Moines for this new facility.

“I am pleased that after a competitive process, Northwest Airlines saw that the Des Moines International Airport was clearly the best location for their new aircraft maintenance facility,” Harkin said. “The opening of this new facility will bring quality jobs to the area and help boost the local economy.”

Northwest officials said they considered six other sites for the maintenance center before settling on Des Moines.

An increase in runway-accessible land was a key feature Northwest Airlines looked for when choosing a location for their new maintenance facility, Harkin said in a statement.

"It's really a good fit," said airport manager Craig Smith. "All the infrastructure is really here for the facility.

Mesaba flies to 72 cities in the United States and Canada. It has major hubs in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis, Tenn.

bk42

I don't get it, why don't they just build the maintenance hangars at MSP or DTW, or even MEM? Wouldn't it save them a lot in fuel costs?

Klm is Dead - Long Live KLM

Iowan mechanics are cheaper and pack more kick than kerosine!

DanTravels

This somewhat strangely worded sentence from the release...

...to me reads as them wanting an airport that's not already all built out, and has room for the facility to grow.

thezipper

To me it reads that there are more tax incentives that are not topped out, as may be the case in MSP, DTW or MEM that they can "grow"....

hazelrah

Didn't NW have a state of the art maintenence facility at Duluth, MN that is not being used?

Too many bridges burned in Duluth plus Iowa may be giving massive tax incentives.

SchmutzigMSP

It was an Airbus shop. Probably not the easiest to convert to CRJs, plus they probably got a nice deal from the DSM airport/community to build a new one.

I think the facility in DLH is being used for something right now, I just don't recall what.

3Cforme

Curb your enthusiasm, DESMOINESguy. Here's one view of how well things worked out in northern MN after state incentives were granted for NW maintenance facilities:

http://citypages.com/databank/26/1272/article13199.asp

DESMOINESguy

You're absolutely right zipper. Todays Des Moines Register provides more details of some of the incentives offered up by the airport and city:

"Mesaba Airlines plans to open an $11.8 million aircraft maintenance center at the Des Moines airport that will employ 30 people.

Work on the 75,000-square-foot facility will begin later this year, and construction is scheduled for completion in late 2008.

The airport will construct the building, including preparing the ground and running utilities to it, at a cost that airport aviation director Craig Smith estimated to be around $4 million.

Taxpayers of Des Moines, who own the airport, won't have to pay for any of the expenses. The airport will pay for $600,000 in site preparation expenses from money it generates from concessions, such as rental cars and parking. The approximately $3.4 million that it will borrow to build the hangar will be repaid by rents collected from Mesaba, Smith said.

Mesaba, a unit of Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines, will also be in line to receive some state funding for training, and possibly rebates of sales taxes for equipment it buys, but those details are still being ironed out, Smith said.

Jobs will include managers and technicians. Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association could earn as much as $25 an hour, according to O.V. Delle-Femine, national director of the union.

Bill Poerstel, a vice president of Mesaba, said 20 mechanics furloughed by the airline when it closed repair operations in Des Moines and Cincinnati, Ohio, will have first rights to be recalled. The Des Moines shop, which employed seven people, closed about 18 months ago.

James Erickson, chairman of the board of directors for the Des Moines airport, said airport officials had worked for at least 18 months to land the facility.

"It's a real coup for all of Iowa," he said. It further diversifies the jobs base of Des Moines, and helps the airport become an even more important driver of economic activity, he said.

An immediately tangible result of the agreement is Northwest's shift on Sept. 15 to a larger jet on its daily flight between Des Moines and Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. The carrier will replace a 50-passenger plane, which does not offer business-class seating, with a 76-passenger CRJ900 aircraft. Mesaba will work on those types of planes at the new maintenance hub."

SchmutzigMSP

That quote should read: "The carrier will replace a 50-passenger plane, which does not offer business-class seating, with a 76-passenger CRJ900 aircraft [which also does not offer business class seating, but does offer first-class seating]."

Aviation reporters are basically useless these days...

msnflier

Because, I believe, the flight that originates in DSM to DCA goes to MSN and back to DCA and, perhaps, back to DSM. I think the DCA/MSN/DCA route does well capacity-wise. Most of the 200s I've flown on between here and MSN (or from MSN when I was living there) have been 80% or more full, it seemed.

Anyway, congrats to DSM. Sounds like a reasonable deal for all involved. Too bad MSN couldn't swipe Compass or someone else's operation - there's some room on the northern end of MSN as well as the SE side.

bk42

Thanks DESMOINESguy, that explains why.

DanTravels

...and if there even is such an animal as an "aviation reporter," I somehow doubt that the venerable Des Moines Register would have one of its own.

azj

Mesaba already has a hanger in DTW as well as ones in RHI and CWA. The CVG hanger is closed as well as the MSP hanger. The biggest reason why the MSP closed in addition to cost is the fact there are no regularly scheduled overnighting airplanes in MSP. If all the planes are in the outstations at night, why not work on them there? That's the whole idea here. As the article mentioned, there was a night mx operation for the avros in DSM in the past... it's coming back, this time with a roof over their heads!


AZJ

DESMOINESguy

Thought I'd bump this thread to report that this facility, which was under construction at the south end of the Des Moines airport, collapsed yesterday due to a 60-70 mph wind gust. This is (was) a $12 million project scheduled to open in September. Reports are that it is a total loss.

Anyone care to speculate it they will start over or possibly scrap the plan in light of the merger?