C&L Aviation Group has broken ground on a 12,000-sq-ft building housing an expanded interior shop operation that CEO Chris Kilgour said will triple its current capacity and is the result of an increased emphasis on business jet maintenance. âWeâre really growing our corporate aircraft maintenance businessâŚand we continue to get work on the interiors side,â he told AIN. âItâs just really been overflowing with interiors work.â
About six years ago, officials at Bangor, Maine-based C&L made a decision to expand beyond regional aircraft MRO and paint services to pursue corporate aircraft maintenance work, which included using an existing paint facility for its regional airline customers, as well as creating an interior shop from scratch. The interior shopâs capabilities include soft goodsâseats, carpets, and sidewallsâand cabinets and trim created in its woodshop. âAt this point, weâre bursting at the seamsâpardon the punâand really need the extra space,â Kilgour explained. âWeâre building more interior shop space than what we need at this point, but in my experience, thatâs always a good thing to do.â The new building is expected to be complete by year-end.
C&L is focusing its corporate aircraft maintenance, paint, and interiors business largely on four models and brands of business aircraftâBombardier Challenger, Hawker, Beechjet, and Cessna Citation Excel/XLSâwith plans to add Bombardier Global Express. âWe sort of want to be specialists with certain aircraft,â he said.
The new interiors shop is one of several ongoing construction projects at C&Lâs Bangor International Airport location. Work is also underway to upgrade its corporate aircraft maintenance hangar, including remodeling office space and adding 5,000 sq ft. Itâs also constructing a 27,000-sq-ft parts warehouse and has acquired and converted another building for its component shop where it does sheet metal work for large parts such as bulkheads, panels, and leading edges.