Ogden may gain 200 aviation jobs

Ogden is in line to add up to 200 workers if a Swiss company follows through on its plan to add an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility and fixed-based operation services at Ogden-Hinckley Airport.

Jet Aviation said this week that it has signed a letter of intent with Kemp Development Inc. of Ogden to open the facilities, saying Jet Aviation Ogden could be in operation by this fall and add up to 200 people over the next two years.

The company said the move is part of its growth strategy, by adding a Western U.S. facility to its worldwide portfolio. Jet Aviation Ogden, the company said, would augment its Midcoast Aviation facility in Cahokia, Ill., and the newly acquired Savannah Air Center in Georgia.

"This is a very exciting development for Ogden, and we will do whatever we can to make it a reality," Richard McConkie, Ogden's deputy director of community and economic development, said Friday. "We're confident that things can be finalized, and we're very pleased that Jet Aviation has selected Ogden."

The company said its maintenance facility would be 70,000 square feet of hangars and workshops that would provide heavy maintenance, component repair, refurbishment and painting for mid- to large-cabin aircraft.

Jet Aviation's plans include assuming the existing fixed-based operations of Kemp Jet Services. The executive terminal, hangars and offices occupy 51,000 square feet and include the terminal, fueling, a pilot "snooze" room, a pilot lounge, weather and flight planning and an on-site restaurant.

"This facility is ideally located to serve Western U.S. business aircraft operators," Jim Ziegler, Jet Aviation's chief operating officer for the Americas, said in a prepared statement.

The operations would be at the south end of the airport, in space once leased by Adam Aircraft, which filed for bankruptcy in February.

McConkie said Ogden is working to obtain commercial air service at the Ogden airport, and the Swiss company's presence would "be a very favorable step in advancing that goal."

In a news release announcing the letter of intent, Jet Aviation said it "expects to receive the full support of the state of Utah, the city of Ogden and local economic-development offices."

McConkie said no applications have been filed, but he expects a tax-increment package to be prepared through the Ogden Redevelopment Agency. The Governor's Office of Economic Development has yet to receive an application from the company for a financial incentive.