AirTran plans new hangar, offices at Atlanta airport

ATLANTA - AirTran Airways said Wednesday it will build a new maintenance hangar and office space at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport to accommodate growth of its Boeing 717 fleet. <br> <br> Vice president of operations of AirTran, Stephen Kolski, said the project will include a 56,000 feet of hangar space and a 20,000-square-foot office. <br> <br> AirTran is based in Orlando, Florida. The airline has 3,400 employees, including 120 mechanics, at its sole hub in Atlanta. <br> <br> Pending city approval of a financing and lease deal, construction is scheduled to begin in December and be finished in about a year. <br> <br> The airline, which was known as ValuJet, moved from Atlanta to Florida in 1997. Officials say the company has no immediate plans to return to Georgia.