Gallery: Tour AAR’s Rockford Facility

Lindsay Bjerregaard Lee Ann Shay October 08, 2021

AAR Rockford Facility

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

AAR’s 238,000 ft.2 facility in Rockford, Illinois, includes two insulated membrane-clad hangars built by Rubb Building Systems. AAR opened the facility in 2016.

Tool Room

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

A middle area connecting the hangars includes a tool room, records, training and a cafeteria. AAR’s Rockford facility hopes to be a paperless operation in 12 months.

Consumables Vending Machine

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

Vending machines dispense consumables and expendables, such as drill bits, tapes and brushes.

Storage to Service

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

Air Canada stored some of its aircraft at AAR during the pandemic. Here the MRO is completing a return to service check, as well as running the engines and swinging the landing gear.

Landing Gear Tiger Team

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

AAR’s Miami landing gear tiger team flew to Rockford to perform landing gear maintenance.

On The Go

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

This specialty landing gear team travels to internal AAR and external facilities.

United Airlines Contract

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

AAR started performing heavy maintenance on United Airlines narrowbody aircraft earlier this year via a multi-year agreement.

Surface Inspection

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

AAR is performing a C check on this Boeing 737-900 and is inspecting surfaces for hail damage.

Oh, Hail!

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

AAR maintenance staff measures the dents caused by a hail storm and the dents’ proximity on this flap.

Eddy Current

Credit: Lindsay Bjerregaard/Aviation Week

Technicians use this Olympus eddy current instrument to check aircraft for delamination, as well as although potential defects.

A peek into AAR’s facility in Rockford, Illinois, which was one of the first MROs to become an FAA-approved SMS facility (in Nov. 2020).

Lindsay Bjerregaard

Lindsay Bjerregaard is managing editor for Aviation Week’s MRO portfolio. Her coverage focuses on MRO technology, workforce, and product and service news for AviationWeek.com, Aviation Week Marketplace and Inside MRO.

Lee Ann Shay

As executive editor of MRO and business aviation, Lee Ann Shay directs Aviation Week's coverage of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), including Inside MRO, and business aviation, including BCA.