=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2003/06= /25/BU280683.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, June 25, 2003 (SF Chronicle) Room to expand/Oakland Airport exploring options for abandoned United maint= enance center George Raine, Chronicle Staff Writer Oakland International Airport is pondering the future of the maintenance facility on its property that United Airlines occupied for 15 years but abandoned in May to save money in bankruptcy reorganization. Six hundred union mechanics either accepted transfers to the United maintenance shop at San Francisco International Airport or retired. They left vacant a 300,000-square-foot building on a 40-acre parcel that includes a 182, 000-square-foot hangar area, 47,000 square feet of office space and a 75,000- square-foot shop area. There are several possibilities for the space, said Steve Grossman, director of aviation at Oakland International Airport, where business grew significantly during 2002, despite the national downturn in the aviation industry. The airport, with a business plan that embraces low-cost carriers, enjoyed an 11.5 percent increase in passenger traffic in 2002, second only to the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, a Delta hub. Indeed, Oakland International now has 25 percent of the Bay Area airline passenger market share, the airport said. By contrast, passenger traffic in 2002 fell 15 percent at Mineta San Jose International Airport and 9.2 percent at San Francisco International Airport. "We view this as a long-term opportunity," Grossman said of the new lease on life for what is now known at the airport as the Oakland Maintenance Center -- although one option is demolition and building a public or tenant parking lot to accommodate the airport's growth. Even now, since the departure of United, an additional 800 parking spaces have been set aside on nine acres adjacent to the center. Parking, a major revenue source at the airport, generated $35 million of the fiscal 2003 revenue of $107.2 million, Grossman said. At noon Monday at Port of Oakland offices, the aviation subcommittee of the Board of Port Commissioners is scheduled to hear a briefing from port staff members on options for the center. The board is expected to decide the facility's future in the autumn. Grossman said the staff could recommend keeping the facility a maintenan= ce base or transforming it into a passenger terminal or cargo base, among other options. UPS officials examined the property but are not interested, a company spokesman said. A spokeswoman for FedEx said her company has not expressed interest in the maintenance center. World Airways, primarily a charter airline best remembered for transporting U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, began operating the jet aircraft maintenance facility in the early 1970s. It was dedicated in 1973 and used for contract maintenance services for 14 airlines. World Airways vacated Oakland in 1987 and United assumed the lease in 1988. The airline agreed to a 10-year pact with two 10-year options. It exercised the first option in 1998. United, having sought Bankruptcy Court protection, on May 2 filed motions to reject the lease on the facility and adjacent parking area. United cleared out after the lease rejection went into effect on May 31. Grossman said United left the center in good condition, having made $30 million in upgrades during the past six or seven years. But the airport is losing the $3.4 million in annual rent revenue from t= he shutdown of the facility. That represents 2.9 percent of the airport's fiscal year 2004 budgeted revenue of $118.8 million. United also recently abandoned its maintenance facility in Indianapolis, where 1,100 mechanics were employed. It, too, might be revived. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is meeting with employers and elected officials in Indiana to explore possible new uses of the center. E-mail George Raine at graine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 SF Chronicle