Maintenance

Commercial Jet, one of the few MRO operators left at Miami airport, is thriving thanks to its niche business mix

North 36th Street, running along the northern edge of Miami International airport, was once home to several maintenance, repair and overhaul shops, some specialising in Latin American and Caribbean markets.

Today, several hangars are empty. One survivor is Commercial Jet, whose unprepossessing exterior belies a thriving niche business specialising in heavy maintenance, passenger-to-freighter conversions and VIP airliner interiors. Among the big-hitters whose aircraft have passed through its doors include Florida resident John Travolta, who flies a Boeing 707, and former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, whose 757 was fitted out there for the 2004 campaign.

STC holder

Commercial Jet's sister company Aeronautical Engineers (AEI), which bought Commercial Jet in 1988, holds one of only three supplemental type certificates for passenger-to-freighter conversions on Boeing 737s-200s, ‑300s and -400s. Together it has 77 STCs and overseen more than 250 conversions since it was founded in 1958.

Around 45 aircraft pass through Commercial Jet's two 4,650m² (50,000ft²) hangars every year. Although the company does some scheduled maintenance, most of its contracts are one-off outfitting jobs including end-of-lease interior modifications, avionics upgrades and passenger-to-freighter conversions. "We are pretty much able to do anything anyone needs," sales director Vince Quinn.

Despite the empty buildings on North 36th Street, MRO remains an important part of the state's aerospace economy, and is the third biggest cluster in the USA, with 700 businesses employing more than 18,000 people, according to Enterprise Florida. It maintains that with average annual wages averaging $42,000, and short flying times to most points in the Americas, Florida has a "distinct advantage over other world-leading MRO locations".