America West to Add Overnight Maintenance at John Wayne

America West Airlines plans to install an overnight maintenance operation at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport to help boost the carrier’s efficiency, an airline official said Friday.

The Phoenix-based carrier plans to station six or seven mechanics and a supervisor in Orange County to perform regular maintenance on three America West planes that routinely sit overnight at John Wayne, which has an 11 p.m. curfew.

Currently, all planes in America West’s fleet must be rotated through Phoenix or Las Vegas for routine maintenance. Performing the repairs at night in Orange County when the planes are idle will help keep more planes in the air and allow the carrier to add four additional flights out of Phoenix, America West spokesman Gus Whitcomb said.

“We saw an opportunity to use our time more productively and increase our operating efficiency,” Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb said the maintenance crew should be up and running in Orange County by the end of March. He said the operation won’t require the carrier to obtain additional facilities or hangar space at John Wayne.

Whitcomb said the carrier will add a similar overnight maintenance operation in Columbus, Ohio.