US Airways gets new maintenance plant

US Airways broke ground today on a new $18 million equipment maintenance plant at Philadelphia International Airport.

The 58,000-square-foot building, scheduled to be completed late next year, will consolidate three existing repair facilities at the airport, where 2,700 pieces of equipment - including trucks, baggage carts, luggage belt loaders, and tugs that pull planes - are stored and repaired.

US Airways chief operating officer Robert Isom, and other airline and Philadelphia airport officials, will be on hand at 10 a.m. for an official groundbreaking ceremony. The building will be near Tinicum Island Road, in an area called Cargo City.

US Airways said that more than 20 percent of the building, including steel, drywall, ceiling tiles and carpets, will contain recycled materials.

Philadelphia is one of US Airways' three national hubs, along with Charlotte and Phoenix.

US Airways handles about two-thirds of the passengers at Philadelphia International Airport. The airline controls all the gates on Concourses B, C and F and many of the gates on Concourse A, the terminal for international flights.