Off the ground
United Airlines breaks ground on $177 million facility at Houston airport

United Airlines revealed new infrastructure initiatives at George Bush Intercontinental Airport as part of the company’s ongoing $3.5 billion investment into IAH.
United broke ground on a new $177 million Ground Service Equipment (GSE) Maintenance Facility that will open in 2027.
According to a release, the 140,000-square-foot GSE facility will support over 1,800 ground service vehicles with expansive repair space, shop space, and storage capacity. The GSE facility will also be targeted for LEED Silver certification. United believes this will provide more resources to assist with charging batteries, fabricating metal, and monitoring electronic controls with improved infrastructure and modern workspaces.
Additionally, the company opened its new $16 million Technical Operations Training Center.
The center will include specialized areas for United's growing fleet, and advanced simulation technology that includes scenario-based engine maintenance and inspection training. By 2032, the Training Center will accept delivery of new planes. This 91,000-square-foot facility will include sheet metal and composite training shops as well.
The Training Center will also house a $6.3 million Move Team Facility, which is designed to centralize United's Super Tug operations. United’s IAH Move Team manages over 15 Super Tugs across the airfield, which assist with moving hundreds of aircraft to support flight departures, remote parking areas, and Technical Operations Hangars.
The company says it plans to introduce more than 500 new aircraft into its fleet, and increase the total number of available seats per domestic departure by nearly 30 percent. United also hopes to reduce carbon emissions per seat and create more unionized jobs by 2026.
"With these new facilities, Ground Service Equipment Maintenance Facility and the Technical Operations Training Center, we are enhancing our ability to maintain a world-class fleet while empowering our employees with cutting-edge tools and training,” Phil Griffith, United's Vice President of Airport Operations, said in a news release. “This investment reflects our long-term vision for Houston as a critical hub for United's operations and our commitment to sustainability, efficiency, and growth."
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This story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.