ACI Jet will lease a 17,000-sq-ft hangar at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (SBP) to SkyWest Airlines for a maintenance base that’s expected to create more than 40 new jobs, the central California FBO operator, MRO provider, charter operator, and aircraft management firm announced late last week. The hangar, which ACI acquired and renovated, was previously an American Airlines maintenance hangar.

Housing up to five regional aircraft simultaneously, the hangar will support overnight maintenance of SkyWest’s fleet of nearly 500 regional jets. It is expected to be operational in September.

“ACI has been built by Californians committed to California and this is a great example of how we work to best serve the communities we support,” said ACI Jet CEO William Borgsmiller. “We are excited about our relationship with SkyWest Airlines and the opportunities they bring in the form of jobs to our San Luis Obispo community.” 

Borgsmiller explained that his company is working with community colleges in the area to develop an aviation maintenance program to serve as a pipeline for SkyWest and others at SBP, as well as ACI Jet, which last month was named an authorized service facility for Bombardier Business Aircraft.