Steel Frame of New MRO Hangar Completed at Chicago Rockford International Airport

Work has been completed on the steel frame of a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hangar at Chicago-Rockford International Airport.

The 200,000 square-foot facility for AAR Corporation is expected to operate 24 hours a day.

According to the airport, the facility will expand its current infrastructure to allow for scheduled and unscheduled service, modification, overhaul, and all other support services for military and commercial aircraft.

The hangar will be located in the mid-field area of the airport and is slated to be completed in mid-2016.

AAR chose Rockford as the site of its new facility for several reasons, including its central location, cost effectiveness, specially trained workforce, and regional supply chain and warehouse and distribution network.

The Rockford region is a prominent hub of aerospace activity and aviation manufacturing in the country, boasting more than 250 industry specific companies.

Rockford is also home to a critical mass of tier-one aerospace suppliers including Boeing, Woodward, UTC Aerospace Systems, and GE Aviation.

The region's rate of manufacturing employment is twice the national average, with more than 80% of Illinois' aerospace workforce located in the Rockford area.

“RFD is thrilled with the progress on the AAR facility and looking forward to the expanded services this will bring to the airport," says the airport's business development director, Ken Ryan.

“These mammoth hangars are changing the landscape of not only the airport ground, but the region as well.”

Rock Valley College Aviation Maintenance Technology Program has also just completed a 40,000 square-foot new training facility across the road from the AAR buildings.

These classrooms are filled with students ready to learn and work at the MRO facility upon completion.