Air maintenance firm West Star Aviation is eyeing additional expansion at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport to increase its footprint and employment, an official said Monday.
West Star, already undergoing an expansion to reach a goal of employing 225 workers by 2020 at the airport, supported efforts by the airport to recently land a $4 million state grant to redevelop the vacant, 13-acre former Air National Guard site.
The grant, garnered last month by the airport, will help ready the old Guard property to meet West Star’s potential future needs, airport CEO Terry Hart told a meeting of the Airport Authority.
Work on the Guard tract located on the east side of the main runway, such as tearing down existing buildings and prepping the parcel for future aircraft hangars, is expected to start later this year, Hart said.
West Star spokeswoman Debi Cunningham said West Star doesn’t have an expansion plan for the Guard property. But if it’s available and there’s a need for another expansion, the site could be a fit, she said.