Brevard officials tout Dassault Falcon Jet's future jobs, impact at Melbourne airport
Dassault Falcon Jet's future maintenance facility in Melbourne is projected to create 400 new jobs with average annual wages of $86,120 — while bringing in "ultra-high-net-worth customers" on trips to the Space Coast, Brevard County officials say.
Land-clearing and site work are well underway across 48 acres off Apollo Boulevard, just north of Sheltair Aviation’s fixed-base headquarters on Melbourne Orlando International Airport property.
This aviation facility — which will perform major maintenance, modifications and refurbishments on up to 18 Falcon aircraft simultaneously — previously sported the secretive code name Project Vista.
"We expect to pour concrete before the end of this year. And we expect the facility to open the middle of 2025," Dassault Falcon Jet spokesperson Andrew Ponzoni said.
Capital investment: $115 million, the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast reports.
In June, the Melbourne City Council unanimously approved a site plan for Dassault Falcon Jet's 57-foot-tall maintenance, repair and overhaul building measuring 228,568 square feet alongside a 49-foot-tall paint hangar building measuring 52,222 square feet. The complex will include 297 parking spaces.
More: Project Autobahn may bring undisclosed major aerospace company to Melbourne airport
To defray infrastructure costs, the City Council unanimously adjusted the airport's budget in October 2022 to accept a $6.6 million Florida Department of Transportation grant for the project.
This $6.6 million FDOT grant is financing an environmental assessment, land-clearing, apron construction, utility extensions, stormwater drainage, an Apollo Boulevard median cut, and security equipment, an agenda memo said.
“A strong employment base, which will be based almost entirely of high-skilled, highly paid technical and manufacturing professionals," Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, said of the future facility during a Wednesday groundbreaking ceremony.
“And Dassault Falcon Jet-Melbourne will also host many leading corporate and ultra-high-net-worth customers that will visit their facility and our community, highlighting our region and continuing promoting this area on the global stage," she said.
Weatherman spoke from a podium on the breeze-swept rooftop of the Hyatt Place Melbourne Airport, within eyeshot of the construction site. About 70 people attended.
After listening to remarks from a lineup of dignitaries, attendees returned to ground level and toured a 1998 Falcon 900EX business jet parked on a nearby apron.
“This project is an example of why and how Florida continues to outpace the nation in both private-sector job growth and labor-force growth, a consistent trend we've been seeing for over two years now in the state of Florida,” Florida Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, told the crowd.
On that topic, Melbourne Mayor Paul Alfrey said his daughter, who is a senior at Eau Gallie High, is "turning wrenches" with the school's Aviation Fabrication and Assembly program and learning how to build planes.
“Our community is working on growing our young students to come in and take these jobs. So you picked the right community, this amazing hard-working community,” Alfrey said.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne Dassault Falcon Jet aviation facility may open in mid-2025
