Cessna Aircraft Company has approved plans to construct a new Citation Service Centre in Wichita, Kansas. Upon completion of the $60 million facility, Cessna will employ an additional 500-600 people. The Service Centre will double the size of the current building and will house multiple aircraft service bays, numerous component repair and overhaul shops, customers’ business centre and office space.

“With the continued growth of the Citation fleet, this new service centre is necessary to anticipate an even higher level of customer expectations,” said Ron Chapman, senior vp of customer service. “It is projected that upon completion, we will immediately utilise 70 per cent of the facility’s capacity, while providing our customers improved main-tenance scheduling flexibility. The design of this building will also allow us to easily construct additional hangar bays as the Citation fleet continues to grow.”

Construction of the 443,000 square foot building will take approximately 18-20 months and is expected to begin this year. It will be located on a 150-acre site leased to Cessna by the Wichita Airport Authority. Once completed, the current Centre will be utilised as an aircraft completions facility for the Citation Sovereign beginning in 2004.

The centre will operate on the same schedule as the existing facility. The company is working to begin recruiting individuals with the required skills to help staff the centre, it expects the need to double the workforce during the first five years of operations.