More business jets and the jobs that support them will be arriving at Westchester County Airport this year, as a fractional jet charter company will relocate operations to the airstrip.
Flexjet, a Richardson, Texas-based private jet operator, will move its operations fromTeterboro Airport in New Jersey to Westchester County Airport’s Hangar F. Large portions of the moving costs will be defrayed through $5.15 million of bond financing as well as tax incentives from the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency.
“Our bolstered presence at the Westchester County Airport is a way to serve our customers better throughout the entire tristate region,” Flexjet CFO Trevor Mashburn told the Business Journal in an email. “Because of its larger hangar and ramp capacity, Westchester County Airport will allow us to have more aircraft at the ready for dispatch in very close proximity for our customers regardless of where they are in the tristate region. If an owner desires to fly out of, say, Teterboro or East Hampton, our enhanced capacity in White Plains will allow us to serve them better.”
According to Flexjet’s application for funding, 20 temporary construction jobs will be created during a four-month renovation of the hangar facility, which will include enlarging the hangar doors to a height of 27 feet to accommodate larger aircraft and renovating and remodeling half of the office space into a customer lounge.
Mashburn said that Hangar F will become the East Coast maintenance facility for the Flexjet fleet, which includes Bombardier, Learjet, Embraer and Gulfstream business jets.
“A meaningful portion of Flexjet’s customer base resides within 30 to 45 minutes of Westchester County Airport,” Flexjet’s application for IDA funding stated. “Renovating and modernizing Hangar F will entice more of Flexjet’s customers to use the more modern and technologically up-to-date facilities at the County Airport instead of using competing airports in the region with inferior facilities.”
http://www.greenwichtime.com/business/article/Flexjet-soars-into-local-airport-6090933.php