MTU Maintenance will make a $120 million investment as part of a 30-year lease agreement with the City of Fort Worth to significantly expand its North American footprint at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport.

In addition to modernizing and upgrading its nearly 463,000-square-foot facility, MTU’s expansion will create 1,200 highly skilled new jobs in the region and generate 2,000 indirect jobs in services, logistics, and infrastructure, according to a press release outlining the initiative.

“It’s a significant investment,” said Bill Burton, executive vice president of marketing and development for Hillwood, the developer of AllianceTexas. “The operation they will have going forward will be very different. It will be full maintenance and testing.”

As part of the expansion, the facility will be renamed MTU Maintenance Fort Worth, effective Sept. 1, pending approvals from regulatory bodies and authorities. To date, the facility has been known as MTU Maintenance Dallas.

Much of the expansion is tied to GE Aerospace’s CFM LEAP and GEnx engines. In April, the company announced that it would add CFM LEAP and GEnx maintenance, repair, and overhaul services to its U.S. portfolio. Since entering service in 2011, the GEnx engine family has logged more than 62 million flight hours. It is GE Aerospace’s best-selling high-thrust engine to date, with over 3,600 engines in service or on order, including spares. Today, the GEnx powers two-thirds of all Boeing 787 aircraft flying worldwide.

MTU’s Fort Worth site will evolve from an on-site service center into a full disassembly, assembly, and test facility.

The expansion also broadens the depth and scope of MTU’s engine MRO solutions worldwide. The company offers customized MRO, leasing, and asset management services for a portfolio of more than 30 engine types and serves over 1,100 customers around the globe.

“What we’re developing at Alliance and what already exists in Fort Worth and in Texas is a very deep ecosystem of aerospace, which is a good part of the reason they were here to begin with,” said Burton.

MTU Aero Engines is based in Munich. It is Germany’s leading engine manufacturer and a key player in the global aerospace industry, providing development, manufacturing, and maintenance of military and commercial aircraft engines.

MTU initially moved to the Alliance site in 2023. There, it operates an engine test facility capable of handling up to 100,000 pounds of thrust.

“MTU’s strategic expansion with the City of Fort Worth will continue to cement our city as a leading aviation hub,” said Marilyn Marvin, the city’s property management director, in a statement. “MTU’s continued investment in its operations will bring thousands of jobs to North Texas and provide an opportunity to collaborate with universities in ways that promote local talent development and continued training for Fort Worth’s highly skilled workforce.”

MTU technology powers one in every three commercial aircraft worldwide. Each year, the company services approximately 1,500 engines and industrial gas turbines. It employs more than 13,000 people across 19 locations on five continents.

“MTU’s revolution into MTU Maintenance Fort Worth marks a pivotal moment not only for the company but for the entire AllianceTexas ecosystem,” said Christopher Ash, senior vice president of aviation business development at Hillwood. “This investment underscores MTU’s long-term commitment to Fort Worth and the significant growth happening at Perot Field.

“As one of the soon-to-be largest engine maintenance and testing facilities in North America, MTU Maintenance Fort Worth will be a powerful force for economic growth — bringing thousands of high-quality jobs, attracting top-tier aviation talent, and reinforcing our region’s position as a global leader in aerospace innovation.”