Aviation Exteriors Louisiana Expanding Services and Developing New Hangar

LA – Aviation Exteriors Louisiana has specialized in the niche market of painting commercial aircraft for over thirty years at its base at Acadiana Regional Airport (ARA) near New Iberia, Louisiana. After focusing exclusively on commercial aircraft for the first decade, the company expanded operations into providing paint services for military and business jets. When CEO Jerry Hernandez recently acquired the company, it was decided to expand its business model into the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services market. To fulfill this vision, $2.5 million will be invested in developing a dedicated maintenance hangar with a comprehensive range of tooling and equipment to provide MRO services on a wide range of aircraft. With this project, the company will create 100 new direct jobs with average salaries in the mid-$50,000 range plus benefits.

The company was offered competitive incentives by the State of Louisiana to bring the project to fruition. One is the services of LED FastStart, one of the nation’s top-performing state-sponsored workforce development programs. The company will likely also take advantage of the state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program and a performance-based grant of up to $2 million for upgrades to the 60-year-old hangar the company will lease from the Iberia Parish Airport Authority for the MRO operations.