AAR Corp has announced that it will be permanently closing its MRO facility at Duluth, Minnesota, by late July due to the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on the commercial airline industry.

By closing the facility, around 269 jobs will be cut. The company said that they had already furloughed 238 employees following the outbreak of coronavirus.

In a statement, a spokesman for AAR said: “Due to the unforeseen business circumstances related to Covid-19 and its impact on the commercial airline industry, we regret that AAR will discontinue operations in its Duluth MRO facility permanently as of July 24, 2020, as described in our Form 8-k dated May 21, 2020.

“The decision to close our Duluth facility and reduce our workforce was difficult given the skills and commitment of the employees at the site.

“This will result in a workforce reduction of 269 employees, 238 of the total were already on furlough. All employees will receive a severance package and will receive medical coverage paid by AAR until July 31, 2020.

“AAR performed aircraft heavy maintenance at this facility and our primary customer has been unable to commit to any new maintenance work for the foreseeable future at the Duluth facility.

“The Duluth facility’s equipment will be transferred to other AAR maintenance, repair and overhaul stations, and we expect that any customer business will be absorbed by those other facilities.”

Following this closure, the company has said that it will continue to operate four MRO locations throughout the US and two in Canada.

Visit aarcorp.com for more information.

Image credit: Aviation Week.