Sale of Premier Aviation division ‘great for employment,’ mayor says
Premier Aviation has sold its Windsor aircraft MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility to AAR, an American company that leads the aircraft aftermarket industry around the globe.
Mayor Drew Dilkens, who said he has been aware of the pending sale for months, said there is nothing but upside for the city and the workers at the hangar.
“The long story short here is that we should see more business at our MRO which is great for the city and great for employment,” said Dilkens.
The 143,000-square-foot Premier Aviation operation opened in 2012, a project of former mayor Eddie Francis, that saw $23 million of taxpayers’ money go into construction.
Dilkens said there were a number of factors that resulted in frequent downtime at the facility due in part that Premier Aviation is a relatively small Canadian company.
“A company like AAR — because they have the breadth and the experience and they’re just good at what they do — they can keep that pipeline full that’s going into the facility,” said Dilkens.
“I think that’s different from what we had with Premier. This isn’t about bashing Premier, I’m not, it’s just something that’s different with the scale of AAR.”
The Wood Dale, Ill.-based AAR also purchased a 150,000-squarefoot Premier Aviation facility in Trois-Rivieres, Que., that has been in operation since 2002.
“We are excited to add an experienced workforce and two worldclass facilities to our award-winning MRO network, and we look forward to growing our position in, and bringing more flexibility and value to, the Canadian market,” said John Holmes, president and chief operating officer of AAR in a news release.
“The culture of continuous improvement and execution excellence at these facilities is consistent with AAR’s commitment to the highest levels of service.”
The release also stated that “the facilities have made significant investments in tooling over the past few years and currently employ over 300 well-trained aviation mechanics and personnel who will retain their positions based on expected workload.”
AAR’s vice-president of strategic communications Kathleen Cantillon could not say how many are currently working in Windsor.
Shortly after announcing the sale, AAR and Air Canada announced a $500-million contract for servicing of Air Canada jets at the Trois-Rivieres facility.
Dilkens said he plans to reach out to AAR soon to see how Windsor can benefit from the new regime.
“They’re a public company, they’re publicly traded, they’re the real deal, they’re big, they’re successful and they certainly have what it takes to make that facility shine,” said Dilkens.
“Knowing the capabilities of that facility that we have built, and knowing the background of AAR, if anyone can make this work and get that facility running at full throttle, it’s a company like AAR. So I’m excited about that.”
St. Clair College had teamed with Premier Aviation for an aircraft mechanic course but that endeavour winds up in November, Dilkens said.
Premier Aviation president Ronnie DiBartolo said his company will now focus on its two remaining operations. “We are honoured that a company with the reputation, breadth and depth of AAR has recognized the quality of our MRO facilities, and we are pleased that the customers and employees of these facilities will continue to be well-supported,” said DiBartolo.
AAR began as the Allen Aircraft Radio company in Chicago in 1950 supplying radios to the fledgling commercial airline industry and has grown over the years to become a complete aftermarket airline supply and maintenance company.