ERLANGER — A new partnership between the area's “other” major regional jet presence and the company that makes its planes could create more than 100 new high-paying aviation jobs, officials with Mesaba Airlines and BAE Systems said Wednesday.

Ronnie Brown, an aircraft mechanic with Mesaba Airlines, performs routine maintenance on a jet engine. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The two companies have joined to create a BAE maintenance center at Mesaba's 126,000-square-foot maintenance center at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

        Minneapolis-based Mesaba, which operates under the name Northwest Airlink as Northwest's main regional carrier, is leasing BAE 26,000 square feet to maintain the British company's North American fleet of 450 aircraft.

        “We're possibly looking to build up what we have now to 20 people by the end of the year,” said David Speirs, BAE's senior vice president for customer support. “And we could take that up by another 100 jobs very easily if this goes well.”

        The partnership includes options to expand the BAE presence locally, although neither company would discuss specifics.

        The link-up re-emphasizes how much of a regional jet hub Cincinnati has become. The headquarters of Erlanger-based Comair, which introduced the regional jet to the U.S. market, sits just yards away from the Mesaba operations, which opened in May 2000.

        With 36 Avro RJ85 planes, Mesaba already has the largest BAE regional jet fleet in the world.

        “They picked this area and this facility for the same reason we did: its central location,” Mesaba vice president of technical operations Scott Bussell said.

        BAE will work on regional jets and smaller commuter jets for customers throughout North America, including Air Wisconsin, which is a primary regional carrier for United Airlines. BAE stopped making commercial airliners last year, with the Sept. 11 attacks a major consideration. It still makes military aircraft.

        But with existing planes still needing maintenance and upkeep, Mr. Speirs said it made sense to branch out in the U.S. market, especially with carriers looking more to the regional jet to keep routes alive.

        The company will use the space to work on everything on its planes except engines and landing gear. In addition, BAE plans to work on some Saab models — the company owns 35 percent of Saab Aircraft.

        Mr. Speirs also said BAE's portion of the operation has passed muster by both the Federal Aviation Administration and European regulators.

        “We're already discussing moving more parts inventory here,” he said. “And with the cooperation and help we've gotten from the local airport authority, I can definitely see expanding here.”
       

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