Southwest Airlines Announces the Opening of Their Largest-Ever Tech Ops Facility at Houston-Hobby

Southwest Airlines announced Wednesday the grand opening of their largest-ever technical operations facility at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. The new 240K square foot complex includes offices, training facilities, warehouse space and a 140K foot hangar.

Southwest Airlines Mechanics work on Boeing 737s inside the carrier’s new hangar at William P. Hobby Airport - Courtesy Southwest Airlines

Yesterday, Southwest Airlines announced the grand opening of their new 240,000 square foot Technical Operations Center at William P. Hobby International Airport in Houston. The new facility is now Southwest’s largest maintenance complex and houses offices, training facilities, warehouse space and a 140,000 hangar. The facility allows nearly 400 Houston-Based Tech Ops employees to work simultaneously on up to six Boeing 737 aircraft indoors. The complex also has space for eight additional aircraft outside of the hangar bays and replaces the original Technical Operations facility at Hobby which was opened in 1988. In Wednesday’s announcement, Southwest Airlines’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Kelly said,

“This state-of-the-art hangar will support out Technical Operations Team’s unwavering commitment to Safety and maintaining our fleet to the highest standards. I’m very proud of our hundreds of Technical Operations Employees in Houston for the work they do every day to support our growing operation from Houston’s Hobby Airport, which includes almost 200 departures per day during peak seasons to nearly 70 destinations across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Southwest Airlines is also investing in maintenance build-out projects at Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Denver International Airport (DEN). Additionally, an expansion is underway at the carrier’s Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) maintenance facility. In total, Southwest will have eight maintenance facilities across the United States.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has distinguished itself by offering competitive fares that include “frills” such as free checked and carry-on bags and exemplary guest service. The airline’s 60,000 employees service over 130M customers annually with 4,000 daily departures to more than 101 U.S. and ten international destinations, during peak travel seasons. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, based on the number of originating passengers boarded, Southwest has been the largest U.S. domestic carrier since 2003.

Source: Southwest Airlines