ROME, N.Y. — JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) and Premier Aviation on Wednesday announced a five-year, heavy maintenance and paint agreement for the Embraer 190 (e-190) at Premier’s facility at Griffiss International Airport in Rome.
JetBlue didn’t release any terms of the agreement in its news release.
Trois-Rivieres, Quebec–based Premier Aviation, which employs more than 150 people in Rome, currently performs maintenance on aircraft carriers at a former Air Force hangar at the Griffiss Business & Technology Park, per a Dec. 22 news release from the office of U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.). Schumer, who is now the Senate Minority Leader, had issued the release encouraging the air carrier to consider Premier Aviation at Griffiss for some of those operations.
Under the terms of the agreement, the aircraft maintenance of two lines of E-190 aircraft started in Rome on Wednesday, JetBlue said.
The agreement also includes the painting of two lines of aircraft, which will initially happen at Premier’s Trois-Rivieres, Quebec facility in 2017.
The JetBlue release describes Premier Aviation as the “largest Canadian-owned aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul and painting (MRO) aircraft company in North America.”
The maintenance and paint lines are expected to add “skilled” jobs to the Oneida County area and recruitment for the Rome facility is “ongoing,” the New York City–based air carrier said.
JetBlue didn’t indicate how many jobs the agreement will create.
Premier has estimated that it could need to hire at least 100 people in order to complete this potential work, Schumer’s office said in the Dec. 22 news release. Premier was in talks “to do business” with JetBlue at the time, according to the office.
“It’s game-changing news that JetBlue will land with a plane full of new jobs at Griffiss and expand maintenance operations at Premier Aviation,” Schumer said in a statement issued Wednesday.
“That’s exactly why I called the JetBlue CEO [Robin Hayes] directly and urged the company to bring this new business to New York and continue their great track record of creating jobs here in New York and investing in our state’s economy… Simply put, today’s agreement will allow Premier to create new, good-paying jobs, and allow for the economic benefits to reverberate throughout Oneida County and Central New York,” Schumer added.
The top official at the Quebec–based firm said the company is “pleased” to welcome JetBlue to Premier.
“It is gratifying that our significant success in the E-175/190 fleet has led to the winning of this contract,” Ronnie Di Bartolo, CEO for Premier Aviation, added in the JetBlue release.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
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