A New Aircraft Hub Brings 400 Jobs to Eastern North Carolina
A new U.S. Navy aircraft maintenance center opened at the North Carolina Global TransPark in Kinston, bringing more than 400 skilled jobs and boosting local aerospace activity.
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A new military aircraft maintenance complex opened Thursday in eastern North Carolina, bringing more than 400 jobs to Kinston and adding another major aerospace operation to the state’s Global TransPark.
The U.S. Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center East opened the new maintenance, repair and overhaul complex on Sept. 17 at the North Carolina Global TransPark. The operation is expected to generate about $140 million a year in economic activity.
The new complex will handle maintenance for several military aircraft, including Navy and Marine Corps C/KC-130 Hercules aircraft and Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters.
The facility spans more than 700,000 square feet on roughly 75 acres and has direct taxiway access to the Global TransPark’s 11,500-foot runway, allowing aircraft to move directly from landing to maintenance.
More than 400 skilled jobs
The jobs are expected to include aircraft mechanics, sheet metal workers, avionics technicians, quality assurance specialists and aerospace engineers.
Fleet Readiness Center East is also working with Lenoir Community College and Craven Community College to help train workers for the new operation.
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North Carolina lawmakers approved a $350 million loan in 2023 for improvements at the Global TransPark to accommodate the project. The Navy later signed a 10-year lease for the facility and agreed to a $15 million annual contract once the operation is fully occupied.
The opening gives eastern North Carolina another significant aerospace employer outside the state’s larger metropolitan areas.
The Global TransPark is a 2,500-acre state-owned industrial park in Kinston with airport and rail access. In recent months it has also added an aviation training academy through Lenoir Community College and attracted engineering firm ALTEN Technology USA to support aerospace tenants at the site.
The new Navy operation fits a broader Sun Belt pattern: major aerospace, defense and advanced-manufacturing investments continuing to spread into smaller Southern cities where states have spent years building industrial infrastructure and workforce programs.
In Kinston, that effort is now turning into hundreds of permanent technical jobs and a new role in maintaining some of the military’s most important aircraft.
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