British Airways has announced that it will take possession of the Boeing hangar facility and MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) business at Gatwick. This move will secure more jobs at the site and expand British Airways (BA) presence at the airport. This will benefit BA customers by adding new skills, expertise, and facilities to the airline business.
British Airways acquisition of Boeing’s Gatwick hangar facility
The new British Airways acquisition of Boeing’s Gatwick hangar facility and MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) business at Gatwick will create a new fully owned engineering subsidiary named British Airways Engineering Gatwick (BAEG). This is an important investment move for BA as it continues to expand its engineering operation. As part of the transition, Boeing’s current workforce at the Gatwick facility will transfer to British Airways Engineering Gatwick (BAEG) following an employee consultation process, which is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
British Airways Chief Technical Officer, Andy Best, commented about their new employees:
I’d like to welcome our new colleagues to British Airways, including highly skilled and experienced licensed aircraft engineers. I’m delighted that, subject to consultation, they will be joining the BA family, and I hope to be recruiting more people in the future.
Taking possession of the Boeing facility will increase BAs’ engineering operations at Gatwick airport, which will allow it to continue carrying out maintenance on Boeing 777 aircraft conveniently at the airport. With the new increased capacity, British Airways will be able to insource scheduled heavy maintenance on its A320/321 fleet.
Airbus A319 British Airways © MJ Mercer
Long-term benefits
With maintenance operations now in-house, the need to relocate aircraft for basic maintenance will decrease. This will lower fuel consumption and minimise carbon emissions in the long term, which aligns with British Airways sustainability initiative.
British Airways Chief Technical Officer, Andy Best, released a statement saying
Today’s announcement will help us to be the very best in the business by bringing in the skills and expertise of former Boeing colleagues and adding a large, modern hangar to our portfolio of engineering facilities. It will support the reliability of our entire fleet, which is positive news for our customers and colleagues
What do you think about the new acquisition? Let us know in the comments below!
