AIRPORT TENANT EXPANDS DEAL; San Bernardino: A Company That Converts Aircraft Interiors Will Expand And Add 200 Jobs.

Aug. 27, 2007

An aircraft-interior conversion company at the San Bernardino International Airport reached a deal Wednesday to expand its operation there with plans to add 200 jobs, officials said.

Baysys West signed a five-year lease with SBD Aircraft Services LLC, the airport's master tenant for its hangar complex, said Scot Spencer, SBD's manager.

As part of the deal, Spencer said SBD plans to make structural updates to part of the hangar complex to allow the bays to accommodate larger airplanes.

"The company will now be able to handle airplanes as big as a 747 or an Airbus 340."

The company, which is based in Onancock, Va., converts ex-commercial airplanes for private use and employs about 50 at the airport now, Spencer said. The company was in the process of adding another 70 employees before the expansion plans were final.

The new expansion would potentially bring total employment at the hangar complex to more than 600 workers.

"I'm amazed at the activity they have going there," Michael Burrows, the airport's assistant director said of the hangar. "They were already doing well before."

Baysys has an option to extend the lease for another five years, Spencer said. The portion of the hangar where the company will expand is currently used for storage by the automotive air filter company K&N Engineering Inc., which is based in Riverside.

Reach staff writer Josh Brown at 909-806-3074 or [email protected]

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HANGAR SERVICE COMPANIES

Currently operating at San Bernardino International Airport:

So Cal Precision Aircraft - aircraft engine and general maintenance

Baysys West - aircraft interior conversions

Aeropro - aircraft exterior painting