F L Y I N G T O : N O R T H C A R O L I N A
BUSINESS AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 2 0 2 0 | 31
Airlines fly into PTI to visit the major repair and overhaul
(MRO) facility run by Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering
Company (HAECO) Americas. The company is recruiting
500 workers to boost its workforce to 2,200 and is building
a 250,000ft hangar. The new hangar is twice the size of the
other four HAECO Americas uses at PTI. FedEx operates its
mid-Atlantic hub at PTI in a one million square foot building
and recently doubled its workforce there to 800, to handle
ten additional flights per night. Other tenants at PTI include
Collins Aerospace, North State Aviation, B/E Aerospace and
Triumph Aerospace.
In all, 5,000 people at PTI are employed by aviation
and aerospace companies. Nearby Guilford Technical
Community College has three buildings on the airport where
it can train up to 400 students with aviation skills. “Business
aviation is very important at PTI and a lot of large corporate
jets fly in and out of here,” says PTI’s executive director
Kevin Baker. “We have new tenants planning to come but
they are still confidential.”
Business Aviation in NC
Major North Carolina business and general aviation facilities in
the manufacturing, repair and training segment according to the
General Aviation Manufacturers Association include:
• BBA Aviation (Signature) at Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Ashville, and
Greensboro
• BRS Aerospace at Pinebluff
• Collins Aerospace at Monroe, Charlotte, Wilson, Raleigh, Winston-
Salem
• FlightSafety: Greensboro
• GE Aviation at Durham and Wilmington
• GE Honda Aero Engines (note different from aircraft manufacturer)
at Burlington
• Greenwich Aerogroup (at Kernersville)
• Honda Aircraft
• Honeywell Aerospace at Rocky Mount
• Textron Aviation at Greensboro
• 66 FAA certificated repair stations