Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft.

The new Gulfstream Aerospace Texas Repair and Overhaul Center at Fort Worth Alliance Airport (KAFW) is officially open, adding more component MRO capabilities to the company’s service arm. KAFW is also the location of a three-year-old Gulfstream factory-owned service center.
Gulfstream spent $21 million to build the new facility, which encompasses 100,000 sq ft and houses more than $5 million of dedicated parts and inventory for repairs. MRO activities at the center include wheels, brakes, batteries, hydraulics, structures, and composites. Plans call to add avionics, landing gear, and other components to the menu.
“By expanding our in-house repair and overhaul capabilities, we’re expediting turnaround times and increasing parts availability to best support our customers’ needs while maximizing safety, quality, and efficiency,” said Gulfstream president Mark Burns. “We will continue to invest in component repair, maintenance support, and spare parts to enhance overall service for our customers, particularly as our fleet continues to grow.”
The number of employees who work for Gulfstream’s various product support entities is now more than 5,000. These include personnel who work as technicians, for field and airborne support (FAST), and at factory-owned and authorized service centers, authorized warranty facilities, and parts warehouses.
Earlier this year, Gulfstream opened an expanded service center in Mesa, Arizona. “I believe this [year] to be the single most significant investment in customer support in the history of our company,” said Lor Izzard, senior v-p of customer support.
“Mesa is much more than just the service center,” he added. “It’s now a spares distribution location. Also on the west side of the complex, we have opened our own training center, similar to what we have in Savannah, because we want to be in charge—obviously—of quality and safety.”
Spanning 225,000 sq ft, the Mesa facility features an air-conditioned hangar, full-span crane, and two tail dock stations. There is enough space for a mix of 13 aircraft inside and eight on the ramp.
“We also have 36 beautiful customer offices and a customer lounge,” Izzard said. “The Mesa service center provides a deeper level of inspection and maintenance with avionics installations and structural repair capability on all Gulfstream models.”
Placing parts at strategic locations is just one way Gulfstream is able to keep customers’ airplanes flying. Since 2023, the product support division has used aircraft data to predict and prevent service interruptions, according to Izzard. “We started this quietly in 2023, but it’s a full-blown program now,” he said. “It’s an incredible tool, and we have not yet started with AI analytics, but we are just on the cusp. We have already started internally understanding how AI can accelerate what we’re doing.”
On more than 170 occasions, the system has alerted the technical operations team that a component on a specific airplane is failing, according to Izzard. “We have placed phone calls through our field service organization or technical operations to that customer and said, ‘Hey, we are either shipping your part or FAST is going to be on your doorstep. We’re going to replace that part in your airplane.’ It’s a very exciting space for us.”

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