Gallery: STS Aviation's Revamped Birmingham Hangar

The former Monarch Aircraft Engineering facility was acquired by STS Aviation Group in late 2019 and opened for in the early part of 2020.

During a nearly year-long crisis that has severely impacted the industry, the MRO labor market shortage has eased to some extent.

E-7 Wedgetail

The Boeing agreement is a five-year contract that will comfortably take up 50% of the Birmingham hangar’s capacity, with the remaining capacity available for the commercial sector.

Attaining the Military Aviation Authority-145 accreditation meant building a lot of infrastructure with the hangar segregated into two areas; one for commercial work and the other for military but both with extensive workshop capabilities. We had planned to do all these things in Birmingham, but perhaps not as quickly as we did.

Having started the operation with just a handful of employees, the increase in maintenance work has meant a rapid growth in staff numbers in Birmingham. In both touch labor and certifying engineers roles, this stood at about 70 to 80 people at the end of 2020, with overall staff surpassing 100.

The new year will see the first line of C-check line of commercial maintenance begin, while STS's fuel tank specialist unit in Shannon will collaborate with the Birmingham teams to undertake tank-related work. Line maintenance is also a focus for the company, with Birmingham being one of the latest locations it has opened across its European network.