United Airlines Breaks Ground on New $177M Ground Service Equipment Facility and Opens New State-of-the-Art Technical Operations Training Facility at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
United has invested $3.5 billion to build and upgrade modern facilities at IAH since 2015
IAH Terminal B Transformation, designed to accommodate a projected 36 million future passengers, is on track to open next year
HOUSTON, March 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- United announced another investment in its Houston hub today by breaking ground on a new 140,000-square-foot Ground Service Equipment (GSE) Maintenance Facility at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and opening a new, state-of-the-art Technical Operations Training Center at the airport that will give employees a cutting-edge training experience.
United is the largest airline in Houston, with more than 14,000 employees and more than 500 daily departures. These planned infrastructure improvements underscore the airline's continued commitment to the employees and customers who live in the Houston area. Since 2021, United has invested more than $32 billion worldwide including billions in modern infrastructure, cutting edge technology and nearly $10 billion alone in employee raises.
"At United, we believe that investing in our people and our facilities is the key to maintaining our leadership in the aviation industry," said Vice President of Airport Operations, Phil Griffith. "With these new facilities, Ground Service Equipment Maintenance Facility and the Technical Operations Training Center, we are enhancing our ability to maintain a world-class fleet while empowering our employees with cutting-edge tools and training. This investment reflects our long-term vision for Houston as a critical hub for United's operations and our commitment to sustainability, efficiency, and growth."
United expects the new $177 million GSE maintenance facility to open in 2027 – it will support the airline's fleet of more than 1,800 ground service vehicles and give United's Ground Service Equipment maintenance team, comprised of more than 130 employees, even more resources to perform critical tasks like charging batteries, fabricating metal, and monitoring electronic controls with improved infrastructure and modernized workspaces.
The new, $16 million Tech Ops Training Center (TTC) will support the airline's plan to take delivery of hundreds of new planes by 2032 and the 91,000-square-foot facility includes sheet metal and composite training shops, desktop simulators, as well as scenario-based engine maintenance and inspection trainings.
Additionally, the new Training Center will house a cutting-edge $6.3 million Move Team Facility, strategically designed to centralize United's Super Tug operations. United's IAH Move Team manages over 15 Super Tugs across the airfield, efficiently moving hundreds of aircraft daily to support flight departures, remote parking areas, and Technical Operations Hangars. This significant investment in both the Tech Ops Training Center and Move Team operations further bolsters the airline's growth under the United Next strategy. United Next is poised to transform the customer experience, with plans to introduce more than 500 new, narrow-body aircraft into its fleet, increase the total number of available seats per domestic departure by nearly 30%, dramatically reduce carbon emissions per seat, and create tens of thousands of high-quality, unionized jobs by 2026.
"By opening our Tech Ops Training Center, we are setting a new industry standard for real world and specialized training opportunities for United technicians," said Maria Deacon, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at United. "We're also extremely pleased to break ground on a new GSE maintenance facility which will revolutionize our capacity to maintain our fleet of ground service equipment for decades to come."
Meeting Growing Demand and Advancing Sustainability Efforts
The GSE maintenance facility design is targeted to meet LEED Silver certification and will be twice the size of the current facility, which was built 40 years ago when IAH had only 37% of its current gates.
This facility is part of United's continued efforts to lay a foundation for future growth at IAH. To date, the fleet in Houston is comprised of over 1,100 pieces of electric ground service equipment (eGSE), reinforcing the airline's commitment and investment to lead and electrify Houston. Houston is home to our largest fleet of electrified GSE equipment, which requires less maintenance and reduces air pollution.
The new GSE maintenance facility will provide much-needed space to meet both current and future needs. Key features include:
- A 25% increase in repair space
- A 60% increase in shop space
- An 80% increase in storage capacity
- A 50% increase in shared spaces
Supporting the Local Community and Workforce
This significant investment in GSE maintenance highlights United Airlines' ongoing commitment to the local community and workforce. The new GSE facility will foster job creation as United continues to grow its Houston operation.
In Houston, the airline hired more than 2,100 people locally in 2023 and added over 600 new team members in 2024. This expansion is also expected to create an additional 4,000 construction jobs. According to a recent study by Compass Lexecon, United's direct employment in Houston contributes to more than $1.2 billion in economic activity annually. Including the Terminal B project, United has invested more than $3.5 billion in its Houston facilities since 2015.
Technical Operations Training Center Ensures Skills for Growing Fleet
United Airlines' $16-million state-of-the-art Tech Ops Training Center (TTC) in Houston consolidates new hire and advanced skills training for Tech Ops employees in a 91,000-square-foot facility. The TTC provides a comprehensive, hands-on learning environment and is an investment to ensure that United's technicians are well-equipped with the knowledge and expertise needed to maintain the airline's growing fleet with precision and efficiency.
The Technical Operations Training Facility boasts sheet metal and composite training shops, desktop simulators where technicians can learn aspects of Boeing 737 and 787 troubleshooting, as well as scenario-based engine maintenance trainings, such as specialized aspects of aircraft maintenance, like borescope and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) engine inspections. The TTC allows us to train on simulators and specific aircraft components in a shop environment, rather than in a traditional classroom only environment. Hands-on instruction in these skills increases knowledge retention and an enhanced learning experience without taking aircraft out of service.
Continued investment in Houston
United is the largest airline in Houston, with more than 14,000 employees and more than 500 daily departures. These recent investments follow United's launch of the Terminal B renovation and expansion project, slated for completion in 2026. This project will add 40 gates for larger aircraft, increasing capacity by 40% for passengers traveling both domestically and internationally from IAH. The redeveloped terminal will also include a spacious United ClubSM, the largest in the network, with panoramic views of the airfield.
About United
At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers, and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements that are not statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our future financial results, goals, plans, commitments, strategies and objectives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, known or unknown, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause our future financial results, goals, plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect United's business and market, particularly those identified in the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections in United's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as updated by our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and except as otherwise required by applicable law or regulation, United undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.
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