Utah Flies High in Aviation Industry

Oct. 10, 2008
Duncan Aviation and Delta offered incentives to expand in Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) Business Development Board met today and approved an Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) incentive for Duncan Aviation, an aircraft maintenance and repair company. The board also extended an Economic Opportunity Grant from the Industrial Assistance Fund (IAF) to recruit a Delta Airlines direct flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo Japan.

Duncan Aviation, a business aircraft maintenance company, accepted an incentive from the GOED Board and announced its plan to build a 320,000 square foot aircraft maintenance hanger and office facility in the Provo City Municipal Airport. The incentive based on a 15-year build out was $6,643,293 in a post-performance Refundable Economic Development Tax Credit based on 30 percent of new state revenue over the 15 years.

Duncan Aviation plans on a Capital Investment of $58,000,000 into the state while creating 650+ new full-time jobs over the next 15 years at an average salary above 150 percent of the Utah County average wage. Over the same period, the company will be paying new state wages of $336 million while creating new state tax revenue of more than $22 million net.

The GOED Board approved a post-performance economic incentive of $250,000 through its Industrial Assistance Fund to assist Delta Airlines in its marketing of a direct flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo. The GOED Economic Opportunity Grant is a portion of an approximately $2 million package of cash and marketing assistance, which includes contributions from the Salt Lake City, Dept. of Airports, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, Department of Travel and Tourism, and Economic Development Corporation of Utah.

Not only will a direct flight to Tokyo open other Asian markets such as Korea and China more accessible, Delta estimates that it will provide an economic impact of more than $90,000,000 and create at least 1,100 jobs in a variety supportive services. The new route would be beneficial to Salt Lake City and the State economically through increased Asian business activity and tourism.