Supersonic aircraft deal to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to Central Florida

MELBOURNE, Fla. — The AS2 will be the first commercial aircraft to fly at “silent” supersonic speeds and it will be built in Melbourne.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that Aerion Supersonic would be moving its headquarters to the Orlando Melbourne International Airport.

The deal is expected to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to Central Florida.

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“Right now, no one else is producing supersonic business jets,” said Dale Ketcham, with Space Florida. “So, it's an entirely technology and new market place.”

Aerion Supersonic is relocating its global headquarters from Reno, Nevada, and the company has plans to construct a new state-of-the-art campus at the airport.

Officials said the deal was nearly to two years in the making.

“It structured largely the same way as the Northrop Grumman and Embraer project at Melbourne Airport, where the state of Florida will own the equipment and facilities and lease it back to them.” Ketcham said.

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Airport officials said, Aerion Supersonic will build Aerion Park on 60 undeveloped acres of property along the northwest corner of the airport.

“They're going to do everything from soup to nuts here in Melbourne,” said Mark Buslacchi, director or marketing and business development with Orlando Melbourne International Airport. “They're going to sell the aircraft, they're going to build the aircraft, engineer the aircraft. Obviously, they've got a lot of the engineering work already done.”

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Production of the AS2 will begin in 2023, and the new project involves a multi-year, $300 million investment that is expected to generate at least 675 jobs in Florida over the next six years.

“It’ll be a lot of engineering and advances manufacturing the average salary will be 105K,” Ketcham said. “That’s certainly competitive in this marketplace.”

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