MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) - Slate Aviation has made a new home at Middle Georgia Regional Airport with an 80,000 square foot aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, and cabin conversion facility.
A ribbon cutting was held at the new facility Tuesday. It will be run by Jonathan Cornwell, Executive Vice President of Aircraft Production for Slate Aviation, and Juan Silva, who both have more than 25 years of experience in the industry.
Speakers at the ceremony included Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller, Doug Faour, Aviation Director of Middle Georgia Regional Airport, Heather Maguire, Co-Owner/Partner of Slate Aviation, Jonathan Cornwell, Executive Vice President of Aircraft Production for Slate Aviation and a technician who got emotional while speaking about his father's impact on his journey with aviation.
Slate Aviation, which was created five years ago, is planning to bring 50 skilled technician jobs to Middle Georgia by the end of the year while doing conversion work on its luxury VIP charter fleet of nearly 35 CRJ 200 Aircraft, which will be operated in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. They are planning to grow along with Middle Georgia Regional Airport.
"I mean, this is truly unheard of to have this type of square footage to work with," Maguire said. "So we're really excited, and we're just continuing to see more and more possibilities here."
Middle Georgia Regional Airport Aviation Director Doug Faour says the facility will provide an economic impact.
"It also brings the aircraft in, so it gives us an opportunity to fuel the aircraft and generate revenue for the airport," he said.
We spoke with Maguire about the design of the aircraft.
"We're really putting in a brand new interior," she said. "So, you take all of that out and then you put in, you know, truly VIP seats. So, what you see behind me is an 18-seat shuttle floor plan, and then we've got some renderings of things of our 19-seat kind of truly VIP floor plan, and really it's changing everything from the leather in the interior, putting in brand new seats, new carpets, a whole new lavatory, and really giving it a facelift. These airplanes are great, because they can travel long distances, they can bring large numbers of people, and a ton of bags, which we found for our passengers have been really great."
"When we talk about converting an aircraft, so that requires a lot of skill," said Jonathan Cornwell, Executive Vice President of Aircraft Production for Slate Aviation. "And so, we have today between 30 and 40 employees that perform all types of functions, from sheet metal technicians that install structure on the aircraft, interior technicians that are fitting the interiors, building new components, avionics technicians that are running the wires and working on our lighting systems, and then we have aircraft mechanics that are doing all the heavy maintenance that's required to convert these aircraft. So it takes a lot of skills and a lot of people. Great part is we employ a lot of people in the Macon area. We have a lot of opportunities for people with experience, and then we also have opportunities for folks with no experience that want to come work and we can hire trainees and develop them in this industry."
"There's a tremendous amount of construction that is going on now and will be going on within the next couple of years," said Faour. "As we revitalize the airport with a great focus on infrastructure as we're extending our runway or rebuilding new roadways or building new taxiways, to accommodate the growth and as we prepare the airport for the future."
The new Slate Aviation facility is located at 100 East Drive.