Nov. 11--FORT WORTH -- About a dozen companies have looked at moving into the American Airlines' maintenance facility in north Fort Worth -- once the landmark anchor of the Perot family's Alliance Airport development -- after American shuts it down this year.
Since American announced in February that it wants to outsource more aircraft maintenance and close the facility as part of its bankruptcy restructuring, various companies have checked out the building, said Tom Harris, senior vice president of operations for the Perot-controlled Hillwood Properties.
Independent companies that perform aircraft maintenance for airlines quickly became aware of the site's availability, said David Berzina, executive vice president with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. The chamber identified candidates and reached out to them, he said.
"We have had two companies we have contacted, one domestically and one internationally, that have physically toured the space and were quite impressed with it," Berzina said. "One of the companies is still in an ongoing dialogue with American and the city over their ability to enter in the lease." He declined to name the companies.
The city of Fort Worth, which owns the maintenance facility, cannot market it because American still holds the lease, city spokesman Bill Begley said. The airline has not filed a motion with the Bankruptcy Court to terminate its 99-year lease, although it anticipates returning the site to the city in April.
The 1.6-million-square-foot facility sits on 202 acres bought in 1989 by the Alliance Airport Authority, created by the city to finance the land acquisition and the construction. In 1991, the authority issued $350 million in bonds to fund the project, which opened the following year. American's long-term lease was to have covered bond payments.
The bonds went into default when American's parent, AMR, filed for bankruptcy protection Nov. 29, 2011. The airline received tax incentives when it built the facility, but that deal expired in 2005.
When the facility opened, American projected that it would eventually employ 4,500 people.
It now employs about 1,100. The carrier will continue to employ about 650 workers at its Alliance engine repair facility, called TAESL, which is a joint venture with Rolls-Royce.
The Alliance maintenance facility, a landmark at the airport, is said to be one of the nation's largest cantilever buildings, meaning it has a suspended roof with no fixed columns. This allows it to accommodate seven wide-body planes parked wingtip to wingtip.
"That facility is still considered state of the art, when you look at the automation that they use to handle aircraft in and out of that hangar," Harris said. "We feel pretty comfortable that somebody in the industry will end up utilizing that facility."
American said it has been working with various parties that have shown some interest in the lease at Alliance but declined to comment further on the site's future.
Andrea Ahles, 817-390-7631
Twitter: @Sky_Talk
Copyright 2012 - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
