United Airlines Kicks Off $177M Project in Houston
The airline company is also working on a major terminal expansion there.
United Airlines has broken ground on a 140,000-square-foot ground service equipment maintenance facility at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and opened a new Technical Operations Training Center at the airport.
Slated for completion in 2027, the $177 million GSE maintenance facility will support the airline’s fleet of more than 1,800 ground service vehicles. It will also give United’s ground service equipment maintenance team, composed of more than 130 employees, more resources to perform such tasks as charging batteries, fabricating metal and monitoring electronic controls.
The GSE maintenance facility will meet LEED Silver certification and will be twice the size of the current facility, which was built 40 years ago, when IAH had only a little more than a third of its current gate count.
The new GSE maintenance facility will provide space to meet both current and future needs, according to United. Key features include a 25 percent increase in repair space; a 60 percent increase in shop space; an 80 percent increase in storage capacity; and a 50 percent increase in shared spaces.
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The $16 million Tech Ops Training Center supports the airline’s plan to take delivery of hundreds of new planes by 2032. The 91,000-square-foot facility includes sheet metal and composite training shops, desktop simulators, as well as scenario-based engine maintenance and inspection training.
The center also allows employees to train on simulators and specific aircraft components in a shop environment, rather than in a traditional classroom-only environment, according to the airline.
The training facility houses a $6.3 million Move Team Facility, which is designed to centralize United’s Super Tug operations. The airline uses 15 Super Tugs across the airfield to move hundreds of aircraft daily, to support flight departures, remote parking areas and technical operations hangars.
United’s larger plans for Houston
A little more than a year ago, United and the Houston Airport System made a joint $2 billion investment in United’s hub at IAH, Terminal B. The New Terminal B North expansion will offer two new passenger concourses, replacing the 1960s-era flight stations.
The Terminal B North Concourse, totaling 765,000 square feet in three levels, will house 22 narrow-body gates going forward, and a large United Club at the mezzanine level will offer unobstructed views of the airfield, and will be the largest club in the United system.
The program is also expanding curbside and roadway capacity, along with upgrading the ticketing lobby and ground-level check-in area. Early this year, as part of the Terminal B renovation, United temporarily closed the terminal, and is using other parts of the airport. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
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