NEW CASTLE — Satys Aerospace, a French multinational company that specializes in the painting of aircrafts, plans to open for business in a hangar not far from Wilmington Airport (ILG) come the new year.
The aircraft painting, sealing and interior manufacturing company will reportedly invest $1.3 million in improving the 38,000-square-foot hangar located at 191 N. DuPont Hwy. in New Castle which was previously occupied by Dassault Falcon Jet.
The targeted opening date is set for the first quarter of 2025 once the lease the Delaware River & Bay Authority (DRBA) has with Dassault expires at the end of 2024. Satys signed an initial two-year lease with the bi-state agency that manages the airport’s operations with options to renew for an additional 13 years.
In addition to bringing 40 jobs to New Castle, Satys representatives said there is an opportunity to use the hangar as a training site for future staff as it continues its expansion in the United States.
“The Delaware implementation is aimed at strengthening Satys’s presence in the U.S. as part of the company’s ambition to become a key player in North America,” Satys North America Director Francisco Sanchez told the Delaware Business Times.
Founded in 1986, Satys has 52 sites in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa with about 2,600 employees. Aside from painting aircraft, Satys also completes surface sanding and sealant applications and manufactures interiors for the aerospace and rail sectors.
“Satys’s international expansion reflects a strategy to address both existing and emerging markets while consolidating its position as a major player in aircraft painting,” Sanchez told DBT. “In the pipeline, there are several projects in the Middle East and Asia. The next milestone is a dedicated aircraft paint facility at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South, which is also scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2025.”
The company, which is based outside Paris, has a central United States site in Oregon, but has a team of managers and traveling painters currently on assignment in Little Rock, Ark. with future projects planned in North Carolina and Florida next year.
On Monday, the Council of Development Finance (CDF) approved a package of taxpayer-backed grants of $334,578 combined, including $296,262 in job performance grants.
Satys expects to create 30 new jobs and relocate another 10 from other operations in the next three years with positions ranging from junior to senior painting positions, managers and air quality controllers. Salaries for these roles are expected to range between $50,000 to more than $90,000 for senior staff.
CDF also awarded a capital expenditure grant of $38,316 to assist with improving the hangar off U.S. Route 13 which has been vacant since Dassault left the property in 2022, impacting 131 employees of UAW Local 1542 union whose international arm is formally known as the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America.
Satys plans to invest more than half a million in aerial lifts, forklifts and racking in the hangar, as well as thousands more in other maintenance, tools and equipment.
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership and the DRBA have been working with Satys since last summer with negotiations between DRBA and the aerospace company starting in July 2023 for a potential lease for at least 15 years.
In the final agreement, Satys has agreed to an initial two-year lease, paying $300,000 for the first year and $600,000 for the second year. The company then has the option to renew for three more years for $1.3 million over the course of that period. Rent would increase by 2.5%. In exchange, the DRBA has agreed to invest up to $1 million in necessary repairs.
That rent money could go to benefit the planned improvements at ILG as required by the Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
