Boxell Aerospace relocates headquarters near Boeing, Charleston International Airport

Boxell Aerospace is moving closer to Boeing South Carolina’s 787 campus and Charleston International Airport in North Charleston to “allow for quicker response to customers,” Boxell Aerospace founder and President Lance Syner said.

The Charleston-based aircraft maintenance company plans to build a 3,000-square-foot facility to house its new headquarters and expand its Federal Aviation Administration 145 Repair Station, replacing its current headquarters and repair station in West Ashley.

Boxell acquired 2.8 acres for the facility late last month for the new building, which will sit less than a mile from Boeing South Carolina’s campus and the airport’s runways.

Boxell Aerospace’s employees perform maintenance and modifications to 787 Dreamliners at Boeing and aircraft at the airport.

Boxell supports Boeing’s tier-one supplier Ipeco, which manufactures the four crew seats on Dreamliners, Syner said.

Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kan., installs the seats; the nose section of the plane then is flown to Boeing South Carolina in North Charleston, where Boxell can perform cosmetic repairs or modifications to the seats as required by Boeing or the FAA.

Much of the work is done on Boeing’s flightline, a parking area for the jets post-assembly and pre-delivery.

Boxell also provides continuous services to operators at the airport. Work includes daily plane inspections for FedEx and overnight inspections for JetBlue, as well as tire repairs, oil services or component changes, for example.

Construction has not yet begun on Boxell Aerospace’s new facility, coined “Mission Control” by the team. It is scheduled to open in the spring.

Syner said it “will allow Boxell Aerospace to expand its capabilities worldwide and serve a growing and much-needed service demand for Boeing 787 component repair.”

The company, founded in 2006, focused mainly on general aviation until Syner sold that division in 2011. The company now focuses solely on commercial aviation. Boxell Aerospace has 12 employees between its Savannah and Charleston operations.

“I used to have to fly people in to Charleston to interview them,” Syner said. “Within a few years of Boeing being here, thousands of qualified people for aircraft maintenance are now here, and that bolsters the base of people we can hire from. Additionally, the airport is much busier and aviation as a whole has grown in Charleston.”

- Source:  http://www.charlestonbusiness.com