United Airlines Breaks Ground on Technical Operations Center at LAX

United Airlines and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) broke ground on a state-of-the-art Technical Operations Center (TOC) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on Thursday.

The new facility will include two connected buildings – a ground service equipment and facilities maintenance building and a line maintenance hangar, including an engine support shop that will focus on the aircraft's Dreamliner fleet.

The new TOC will consolidate two facilities that United currently operates at LAX that are located a mile and a half apart, improving efficiency with not only moving aircraft around the airport but with transporting employees, parts, tools and other supplies.

The TOC will be located near the airline's terminal and stand at 407,408 square feet. The facility's hangar will be able to accommodate up to six narrow-body or two widebody aircraft at a time, supporting United's 150 flights that depart from LAX every day.

"Our continued investments emphasize our commitment to our customers in Los Angeles as California's global airline. This modern, world-class facility will create more than 800 jobs in L.A. during the construction process, and will be home to more than 500 United employees once it is completed," said Greg Hart, chief operations officer at United. "This builds on our recently completed nearly $600 million renovation to our terminal at LAX, including opening a brand-new United Polaris lounge earlier this year."

United tapped AECOM Hunt to be the prime contractor for the project, and selected FSB as lead architect for the facility. The airline is also partnering with AvAirPros, which is providing project management services during construction of the TOC.

The commencement of this $352 million TOC pushes the airline's investments at its Los Angeles hub to nearly $1 billion in recent years.

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