Aspire MRO has been launched, offering widebody MRO and passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion services.

The company is based at the former American Airlines maintenance facility in Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. It has been founded by experienced MRO executives and is backed by investment funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group.

Aspire will operate six bays for heavy widebody maintenance and 777 P2F conversions at a dedicated 840,000sq ft facility at Alliance Airport.

The company said it had already secured a long-term contract to perform P2F conversions and MRO-related work for Mammoth Freighters.

Aspire is targeting both domestic and international customers, and noted that it had “ample additional capacity to support operators around the globe seeking to meet the ever-increasing demand for next-generation P2F conversions”.

Aspire’s president and CEO Phil Bathurst said: “With a strong backlog of work, an experienced leadership team, an impressive facility at the premier Fort Worth Alliance Airport, and the financial backing of a leading global alternative asset manager with decades of experience in our sector, I fully expect Aspire to become the pre-eminent MRO providing conversion and maintenance services to widebody aircraft in North America.”