UA officially opened its new wide body aircraft maintenance hangar yesterday at Washington Dulles International Airport, a major United hub and the airline’s principal gateway to the Middle East. United invested nearly $45 million to construct the facility, which will enable the airline to perform maintenance on two wide body or several narrow body aircraft simultaneously. United employs approximately 300 technical operations employees at Dulles, and has nearly 6,000 employees throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
“The close relationship between Dulles and United goes back decades, and this facility represents yet another important investment in this key market,” said Greg Hart, United’s senior vice president for technical operations. “Our new maintenance hangar, coupled with additional improvements in our terminals, gate areas, lounges and employee facilities, will deliver greater reliability for our customers and enhance their overall travel experience.”

Meanwhile, Boeing workers in SEA rejected a contract this week for the aircraft maker to have its 777X made in union-represented plants.

This sets the stage for Boeing to look at other cities to build the aircraft, which is more fuel-efficient than its current 777, a Boeing mainstay.
“Without the terms of this contract extension, we’re left with no choice but to open the process competitively and pursue all options for the 777X,” said Ray Connor, CEO of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division.
Boeing has said it may look at sites including HSV LGB, SLC and SAT. In HSV, Boeing is largest aerospace company in Alabama and has been here for more than 50 years.