New Honda facility will service new 489 mph Hondas

Honda investing in North Carolina to support the HondaJet. Adding infrastructure and jobs.

Honda Aircraft Company has broken ground in Greensboro NC on a new facility that will do maintenance repairs and overhauls (MRO) of the world’s fastest Hondas. The HondaJet project has been in the works for decades and is now nearing production. Although only six years into its formal existence, the HondaJet is nearing commercialization, having gone through many rounds of testing and certification. The Honda MRO facilty groundbreaking was done using Honda Power Equipment.

Honda Aircraft Company established its headquarters in the “Right To Work” state of North Carolina near the Piedmont Triad International Airport. The current headquarters, research and development, and production facility is over one half million square feet and is built on a campus that consists of over 130 acres. According to The Business Journal, once built out and staffed the new MRO facility will push the number of high paying jobs added to the area by Honda Aircraft past 1,000. That does not include the local vendors and suppliers that have staffed up to meet the demands of Honda Aircraft. Nor does it take into account the number of jobs added, or saved by General Electric, who is building the GE/Honda HF120 Turbofan engines, two of which will power each HondaJet.

The new MRO facility will service the HondaJet lightweight, business aircraft. The facility will be able to operate 24/7 and is designed to be able to service 12 HondaJets at one time. Site preparation for the new facility began this past February. The 90,000 square foot facility is expected to be completed in 2013 with full staffing and operations ready to begin by the end of 2013 to coincide with the HondaJets entry into service. The MRO facility will also have a 4,000 spare parts facility. Honda Aircraft Company’s CEO, Mr. Michimasa Fujino stated his goal for the new facility plainly “It is my commitment to build the best Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul facility to serve the HondaJet customer."

We often hear news reports about Honda’s participation in Indy car and other motorsports, but Honda has bigger plans and faster Hondas in the works.