Cushman and Wakefield, the real-estate firm hired by MD Helicopters parent company Patriarch Partners, has reportedly narrowed potential new sites for the company down to four: Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, North Texas Regional Airport, Shreveport Regional Airport and Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The company was expected to make a decision by late last month.
The move is expected to affect 300 employees at MD’s current site, Falcon Field in Mesa, Ariz., as well as another 150 employees at Heritage Aviation, a Patriarch-owned helicopter completion and modification center located in Grand Prairie, Texas. Patriarch CEO Lynn Tilton said she wanted to co-locate the two companies at any potential new location. The relocation push started when MD was unable to negotiate a satisfactory rent increase abatement at its current plant site.