Airline plans to set up maintenance base at Lincoln Airport, adding up to 60 jobs
CommutAir, a regional airline that flies for United Express, plans to open a maintenance operation this summer at the Lincoln Airport.
A regional carrier that flies for United Airlines plans to open an aircraft maintenance base in Lincoln.
CommutAir, which flies 50-seat regional jets, plans to start basing some of those planes at the Lincoln Airport by the beginning of July, said airport Executive Director David Haring.
The company, which is based in the Cleveland area, has expanded rapidly since last summer, when it became the exclusive provider of Embraer ERJ-145 50-seat jet aircraft for United.
It had previously flown only in eastern and southeastern regions of the U.S., flying routes out of Washington, D.C., Houston and Newark, New Jersey.
In March, however, it started flying routes out of Denver. That made it a necessity for the company to open a second maintenance base, because its only existing one is in Albany, New York.
CommutAir officials could not be reached for comment, but Haring said he believes the company targeted Lincoln because of its location in the center of the country and also because it has existing United service to Denver.
CommutAir does not currently fly the Lincoln-Denver route, but it will start once the maintenance operation is in place, he said.
Haring said negotiations with CommutAir started about six months ago but were complicated by the fact that the airport didn’t have any open space that could accommodate the company’s needs, which included a building large enough to house up to three planes.
Space recently became available in one of the two former Air Force hangars that had once been Goodyear distribution centers, and the Airport Authority on Thursday approved making up to $900,000 worth of improvements to the building for CommutAir.
Haring said that work will take 6-8 months, so the company will start off using temporary space and doing maintenance on planes while they are on the tarmac. It already has posted available jobs in Lincoln, and eventually plans to have about 60 employees based locally, he said.
The addition of the aircraft maintenance base, which is believed to be a first for the Lincoln Airport, will be a “feather in its cap,” Haring said.
“There are a lot of perceived benefits in this,” he said.
Among them is the likelihood that United would keep its flights in Lincoln.
The airline, which cut back to four departures a day during the pandemic — two to Chicago and two to Denver — is getting ready to ramp back up, said Bob McNally, the airport’s operations director.
It will add one flight to Chicago in June and then another flight to Chicago and an additional one to Denver by early July.
Airport officials are hoping that the CommutAir base will be a permanent fixture. The lease approved Thursday is for nearly six years and has three two-year renewals. There is a release clause allowing the company to get out of the lease after a year, but it would have to reimburse the airport for a pro-rated portion of the improvements if it does so.
Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years
The area now known as Offutt Air Force Base was first commissioned as Fort Crook, an Army post to house cavalry soldiers and their horses. This photo, circa 1905, shows mounted officers and infantry troops assembling on the parade ground. The officers’ quarters in the background still stand today, but the closing of Offutt’s stables in 2010 ended the base’s equine tradition.
Painter Frank Anania places the final bolt in the SAC emblem, newly placed on the command building at Strategic Air Command headquarters. After the command was created in 1946, SAC headquarters were moved from Andrews Field, Maryland, to Offutt Air Force Base. SAC’s high-flying reconnaissance planes and bombers would go on to play a global role from the onset of the Cold War through the last bomb of the Persian Gulf War.
The Strategic Air Command “nerve center” gets a new headquarters building at Offutt Air Force Base.
Even since the late 1950s, Strategic Air Command has been holding open house events at Offutt Air Force Base to display and demonstrate aircraft for civilian visitors. Each year, the open house and air show at Offutt features aerial acts or reenactments, static displays, and booths showcasing military history and capabilities.
The first SAC museum consisted of a section of abandoned runway near the north edge of Offutt Air Force Base outside of Bellevue. However, the outdoor display left the aircraft vulnerable to the elements.
A Royal Air Force bomber crashes at Offutt Air Force Base. Beginning in the late 1950s, the RAF maintained small detachment and service facility for Vulcan bomber planes at Offutt, often participating in defense exercises and demonstrations at the base until their retirement and deactivation in 1982. This plane crashed at take-off at the northwest end of the main runway and then slid across Highway 73-75. All seven passengers survived.
Just weeks after the Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy visits Offutt Air Force Base, accompanied by Gen. Thomas Power of Strategic Air Command, right.
Actor Rock Hudson receives a B-52 bomber briefing during a visit to Omaha and Offutt Air Force Base. He began filming “A Gathering of Eagles” in May of that year.
An early photograph of the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic in Bellevue. The clinic has served Offutt Air Force Base since 1966 and was remodeled in 2013, including a grand staircase, larger physical therapy and mental health areas, and a more private mammography waiting area.
The world’s largest aircraft at that time, the C5 Galaxy was displayed as part of the open house for civilian visitors at Offutt Air Force Base.
A conference room in the SAC underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base. Strategic Air Command would be formally disestablished in 1992, but Offutt would remain the headquarters for the new United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
The Strategic Air Command Memorial Chapel holds a Sunday morning service as a reminder of those who have given their service and those who have died during the Command’s 46-year history. Founded in in 1946, the command was dissolved in a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base.
OPPD worker Craig Azure of Ashland holds a power line up across Platteview Road near Highway 50 so that an Albatross airplane can fit under it. After SAC was dissolved, the museum moved into a new indoor facility in 1998. Airplanes were moved from their old location at Offutt Air Force Base to their new and current home near Mahoney State Park off I-80.
The parade grounds gazebo at Offutt is dedicated in honor of Airman 1st Class Warren T. Willis, who was killed in an aircraft accident the previous December.
President Bill Clinton speaks at a rally at Offutt Air Force Base.
More than 300 anti-nuclear protesters gather outside Kinney Gate at Offutt Air Force Base. The rally was part of a weekend of protest against nuclear weapons, and was organized in response to an extensive nuclear arsenal review being held at the base.
Vice President Dick Cheney greets service men and women following a speech at Offutt Air Force Base’s Minuteman missile in Bellevue.
Dignitaries clap along to an armed forces medley as ground is broken for the new U. S. Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. From left: Neb. Rep. Adrian Smith, Rep. Lee Terry, Neb. Governor Dave Heineman, General C. Robert Kehler, Commander USStratcom, Sen. Ben Nelson, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, and Mayor of Bellevue, Rita Sanders.
Chris Shotton created this thank you message to the airmen and troops flying in and out of Offutt Air Force Base. Employees of area Walmart stores have been writing giant messages in fields near Highway 370 for years.
Senior Airman Kevin Chapman works the desk at the new Public Health Clinic located in the Ehrling Bergquist military medical clinic.
The new MERLIN SS200m Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar System, with the control tower in the background, photographed at Offutt Air Force Base. The system was moved here from Afghanistan in order to help detect large flocks and prevent damages to aircraft from bids, which cost the Air Force millions of dollars each year.
An aerial photo from late February of the construction site for StratCom’s new $1.2 billion headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base. Despite numerous delays and setbacks, the building would be completed in 2018, six years after construction began. StratCom would then spend the next year outfitting the structure with more than $600 million worth of high-tech communications and security gear.
President Barack Obama arrives in Omaha after landing at Offutt Air Force Base. While in Omaha, Obama met with the family of Kerrie Orozco, visited a local teacher, and addressed a crowd of about 8,000 at Baxter Arena.
This year, U.S. Strategic Command unveiled a new Command and Control Facility located at Offutt Air Force Base. The “battle deck,” shown here, features computer workstations, soundproofing, and the ability to connect instantly to the White House and Pentagon.
Luke Thomas and Air Force Tech Sgt. Vanessa Vidaurre at a flooded portion of Offutt Air Force Base. In March, historic flooding included breaches of two levees protecting the base from the Missouri River.
An OC-135B taxies after it lands at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force’s 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt’s runway is reconstructed.
A temporary hangar was erected to help house the Air Force’s 55th Wing from Offutt at the Lincoln Airport.
Crew members work around an OC-135B, the first plane from Offutt’s fleet to land at the Lincoln Airport on Feb. 1. The Air Force’s 55th Wing is relocating to Lincoln while Offutt’s runway is reconstructed.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.
