Airplane Recycler to Open Mississippi Facility

Currently, UAM has more than 26 aircraft in various stages of disassembly, including narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, at its facility in Walnut Ridge. Based on current aircraft acquisitions, UAM says its business is expected to increase by 20 percent throughout the next 12 to 18 months and will include a significant number of wide-body aircraft.

A recent decision by the Walnut Ridge Airport Commission prohibits any new wide-body aircraft arrivals to the airport. To date, UAM has nine wide-body aircraft at its airport hangar facility. In response to this decision, UAM is opening a wide-body disassembly facility in Tupelo, effective March 2011, to complement its current disassembly facility, hangar operation and component inventory sales division. This Tupelo facility includes a 16,000-square-foot hangar and 39 acres of ramp and apron space, according to UAM.

“It’s more critical than ever to improve turn time for each component from airframe through quality control, inventory management, shipment preparation and final shipment to our customers,” Wright says. “We believe that with this one centralized location we are able to do just that. It’s our job to deliver quality components in a most timely manner to airlines that depend on UAM for constant and reliable inventory support.”