Southwest Airlines invests in Denver with new maintenance hangar

Southwest Airlines Co.(NYSE: LUV) announced today during its Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Denver, Colo., that it intends to begin construction on its first maintenance hangar at the Denver International Airport this summer. The nearly $100 million investment will allow Southwest's Mechanics to work on up to three aircraft inside the 130,000 square-foot hangar. There will be parking and facilities outside the hangar for eight additional aircraft. Ground breaking is expected to occur within the next few months and the hangar is anticipated to be completed in late 2020.

The facility can house the 75 Technical Operations Employees currently working in Denver, who are responsible for maintaining Southwest's all Boeing 737 fleet. Once opened, it'll join the six other hangars located in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, and Phoenix. Overall, the Carrier employs more than 4,000 People within its Technical Operations department.

Southwest carries more local travelers to and from Denver than any other carrier. Denver International Airport is also one of the carrier's top five airports in terms of daily departures in its network of more than 100 cities and offers up to 224 daily departures for sale to nearly 70 nonstop destinations. The carrier employs 4,200 People in Denver.