Alaska Airlines Acquires Training Facility Once Owned By Boeing: Details

Alaska Air Group Inc ALK has acquired a new facility in Renton, Washington, dedicated to training programs. The newly purchased hub will enhance the training experience for various staff, including flight attendants, pilots, and customer service agents, while centralizing operations into one location.

The property was purchased from Unico Properties for $85.75 million. It spans 19 acres and includes a 600,000-square-foot facility originally built by Boeing Co BA for aviation training.

The property is part of Longacres, which Unico Properties purchased from Boeing in December 2021 and which housed Boeing Commercial Airplane HQ in prior years. 

The facility currently houses nine full-motion flight simulators, with plans to add a tenth in the coming years.

It will also feature a mock aircraft for inflight simulations, classrooms, an auditorium, a production studio, and extensive office space.

Alaska Airlines plans to invest an additional $100 million to renovate the space.

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“Our remarkable operations team members will, for the first time in our history, all come together and train under one roof,” said Constance von Muehlen, chief operating officer at Alaska Airlines.

Pilots already train on the campus using the existing simulators, and other employee groups will start moving into the facility after renovations are completed by the end of 2025.

“It is great to see this special 173-acre campus come to life with the opening of the Sounders FC practice facility and now the thousands of Alaska Airlines employees that will frequent the site,” said Ned Carner, Founder of Wing Point Partners, who facilitated the sale.

Price Action: ALK shares closed higher by 1.30% at $41.18 on Thursday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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