Southwest Airlines Debuts New Denver Maintenance Hangar

Credit: Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has opened the doors on its new Technical Operations facility at Denver International Airport.

The airline, which invested $100 million in the facility, began construction on the complex in summer 2019. It will serve as the new base for Southwest’s more than 100 Technical Operations employees based in Denver, who will start moving into the facility in the coming weeks.

The 130,000 ft.2 facility includes a large aircraft maintenance hangar that can accommodate three Boeing 737s, as well as maintenance shops, warehouse space, a training area and offices. Southwest says it will also be able to park eight 737s outside the hangar.

Southwest Airlines new Denver hangar
Credit: Southwest Airlines

According to Southwest, the new hangar adds an important location within its network to support scheduled, overnight maintenance on its fleet of nearly 730 Boeing 737s. The airline says Denver International Airport is one of its top five airports for daily departures and it is also growing its spaces there for ground support equipment, provisioning and cargo teams.

The maintenance facility is the airline’s seventh in the U.S. It also operates maintenance facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Orlando and Phoenix.

Southwest is also building a maintenance hangar at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, which was temporarily delayed due to cost-saving measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. It restarted construction efforts in late 2021.

The airline will be sharing more information about its fleet status, maintenance strategies and upcoming projects at MRO Americas in Dallas, April 26-28.

Lindsay Bjerregaard

Lindsay Bjerregaard is managing editor for Aviation Week’s MRO portfolio. Her coverage focuses on MRO technology, workforce, and product and service news for AviationWeek.com, Aviation Week Marketplace and Inside MRO.