American Airlines is marking the 80th anniversary of its Tech Ops – Tulsa base maintenance facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has grown from a former military aircraft plant into the world’s largest commercial aircraft maintenance base.
The facility opened in June 1946, after American negotiated a lease with the City of Tulsa for a surplus military aircraft plant featuring four large hangars on more than 260 acres. Its first task was overhauling Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Over the following decades, nearly every aircraft type in American’s fleet passed through its hangars — from propeller-driven DC-3s and Convair 240s through to Boeing 707s, 727s, 747s, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s, and the iconic MD-80s. Today the base handles scheduled maintenance on Boeing 737 and 787 family aircraft.
Tech Ops – Tulsa has grown to 3.3 million square feet of hangar and shop space across 330 acres at Tulsa International Airport, and is currently undergoing $400 million in infrastructure improvements. Nearly 5,000 team members work at the facility, including more than 2,300 licensed aviation maintenance technicians, covering aircraft overhaul, component repair, engine overhaul, engineering, supply chain, and IT operations around the clock.
“Our team of skilled aviation maintenance professionals — in Tulsa and across our system — is the best in the business, and they set the standard for safety, quality and ingenuity,” said Senior Vice President of Technical Operations Kevin Brickner.
The base has deep roots in the local community, with multiple generations of Tulsa families having worked there over the decades. American formalized a longstanding partnership with Tulsa Tech vocational school in 2024 and sponsored its adult student team at the 2026 Aerospace Maintenance Council Competition, where the team placed first among 47 schools.
