Germany-based RECARO Aircraft Seating celebrated 20 years at its Fort Worth Facility, RECARO Aircraft Seating Americas, located at 2275 Eagle Parkway, Thursday, May 17.
The airline seat manufacturer hosted a town hall celebration with more than 400 employees and various global executives, featuring speeches by General Manager Sunitha Vegerla, CEO and stakeholder Mark Hiller, Hillwood Executive Vice President Bill Burton, and Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Shingleton.
Martin Putsch, CEO and stakeholder of RECARO Aircraft Seating’s parent company RECARO Group, presented Vegerla with a plaque to commemorate and highlight the manufacturer’s 20-year anniversary and contribution to the local community.
Headquartered in Schwabisch Hall Germany, RECARO is among the top aircraft seat manufacturers in the world and has serviced customers from all over the globe.
The manufacturer’s Fort Worth operations began in 1998 with American Airlines as its first customer. At the time, the plant opened with one assembly line and 12 employees. Since then, the site has experienced consistent growth, doubled their production space to 248,000 square feet in 2013.
RECARO has worked with American Airlines, Alaska, United, Delta, Southwest, Avianca, Lufthansa, Qatar and more, and employes over 2,200 people across its worldwide operations.
Vegerla kicked off the event by discussing the close relationship RECARO shares with North Texas.
Twenty years ago when RECARO was looking to open a facility in the Americas, they eventually narrowed down to Texas and then to Dallas-Fort Worth, Vegerla explained. Then, after looking for a partner they found one in Hillwood and settled in Fort Worth.
“We are proud to have established ourselves in our community and look forward to continuing to build on this partnership,” Vegerla said. “Thanks to the support from our community leaders, suppliers, and other RECARO sites, our team is in a strong position for success in today’s challenging market.”
According to Hillwood’s Burton, when Hillwood entered into the commercial building business, the first two buildings they worked on were the two that encompass the RECARO campus.
“We’ve been honored to be partners with you for the past 20 years,” Burton said. “I remember our first meeting was a Saturday afternoon out here in 1988 and we signed the least in February 1989. We are humbled you’ve allowed us to be part of your program.”
Fort Worth Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Shingleton spoke on the impact RECARO has had in the community.
“When you think about the backbone of Fort Worth there are two things that come to mind, manufacturing and aviation,” Shingleton said. “RECARO represents that success and is exactly the type of industry we want in our community.”
Hiller and Putsch added to Shingleton’s remarks, speaking on the history of RECARO and the impact a site in the Americas has created on the company’s global operations.
“This milestone is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our team in the Americas,” Hiller said. “Over the last 20 years, this group has demonstrated the ability to perform different types of work and exceed customer expectations.”
Recaro Aircraft Seating Americas broke production of 200,000 seats annually in 2015, and Putsch added they are on track to break 300,000 for 2018.
“This site is the core of our identity,” Putsch remarked. “Fort Worth has become RECARO’s home.”
After the speeches, employees and participants partook in a Texas-themed celebration featuring tacos, getting on horseback, Cornhole, wooden cattle roping and more.
The event closed a week of significant meetings for the company, including hosting the Global Supplier Conference on Tuesday, May 15, and an International Management Meeting May 16-17.