Haskell’s Aviation Division Soars During a Pair of Milestone Events

Two of Haskell’s most prominent traits – strong relationship-building and the ability to provide speed to market – put its Aviation & Aerospace Division dominating headlines on Wednesday.

At Cecil Airport, west of Jacksonville, Florida, Haskell Chairman, CEO and President Jim O’Leary and Greg Akers, Vice President and Aviation & Aerospace Division Leader, stood alongside Boeing leaders and community stakeholders in a groundbreaking ceremony for a 370,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.

Meanwhile, a little less than 200 miles south, Pete Kinsley, Infrastructure & Transportation Group President, joined his Haskell crew, representatives of design partner RS&H and Melbourne community leaders as they conducted a Topping Out Ceremony to celebrate significant progress in the renovation and expansion of the terminal at Melbourne Orlando International Airport.

Almost two years earlier, as it prepared to pursue what was then an undisclosed potential tenant, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority prepared to make the best possible presentation by choosing Haskell as its construction manager at risk (CMAR) and Pond & Company as its designer through separate request-for-quote (RFQ) processes.

“This was a great day for Northeast Florida and a great day for Haskell,” Akers said. “Boeing is a Tier I supplier in the aerospace marketplace. This is a marquee project for them.”

Once Boeing chose Jacksonville, design and preconstruction work began immediately on what will be its first digitally enabled maintenance repair and overhaul site. The facility will encompass 270,000 square feet of hangar space and 100,000 feet of office space. It is scheduled for completion in 2023.

In addition to its construction management role, Haskell will self-perform the steel fabrication and concrete work for the MRO.

In Melbourne, the Topping Out, a construction milestone in which stakeholders sign the final beam to be placed in the structure, marked a significant step in the fast-tracked construction of the $72 million facility as it prepares to become the new coastal gateway to Central Florida for TUI, the world’s largest travel group and the UK’s number one holiday provider, in March 2022.

The added facilities will accommodate the airport’s anticipated influx of 150,000 new international travelers during its first year of operation. Additionally, domestic air service continues to grow with Allegiant’s new flights to Pittsburgh, Nashville and Concord beginning this November.

Airport terminal work commonly is done through the traditional design-bid-build method of project delivery, but Melbourne faced a hard deadline from TUI. Knowing they faced a tight window for renovation and expansion, community leaders researched progressive design-build delivery, which allows a significantly accelerated schedule.

Based on its leadership in the field, Haskell was retained as the progressive design-builder and chose RS&H as its design partner based on its terminal resume. As Melbourne’s single point of contact, Haskell has fully integrated the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) functions and provided certainty that planes will be at the gates on schedule.

“The significant investments we are making today will serve our region and visitors worldwide for decades to come,” said Airport Executive Director Greg Donovan, A.A.E. “We are thankful to our design and constructions teams for their dedicated efforts and skills to transform our terminal into a community asset with modern capabilities that will allow us to put our customers at ease with our coastal casual style.”

Contact Haskell to discuss how the Aviation & Aerospace team can ensure that your projects take flight on schedule and within budget.