Air freight and aircraft maintenance run on buildings that behave like hybrids: part hangar, part warehouse, with floors, doors and clear heights that a plain distribution box does not offer. We build that kind of space in the Will Rogers World Airport and Tinker Air Force Base area, for maintenance, repair and overhaul companies, air cargo handlers and the suppliers who feed them.
The scale of the neighborhood sets expectations. Tinker has more than 26,000 military and civilian workers and an annual payroll of $1.8 billion, according to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce reported on August 8, 2025 that the base has an annual economic impact of $7.5 billion on the state. The base covers nine square miles with 760 buildings and more than 15 million square feet of floor space. When a company chooses to locate beside that, it wants buildings that can match the standard around it.
We are not the builder of any of these facilities and do not claim to be. We build for the buyers who want to be near them, and we know what those buyers ask for.
Hangar-warehouse hybrids and aircraft hangars
An aircraft hangar needs wide clear spans, tall doors, floor drains, heavy slabs and fire suppression systems that are different from a storage building. A hangar-warehouse hybrid adds a stock room, parts counter and shipping dock next to the aircraft bay. We build the structure for the hangar bay and size the warehouse portion for the parts flow.
Reference points show the range. The KC-46A depot campus at Tinker includes a $120 million, 130,000-square-foot two-bay hangar and 14 hangar bays in total, with construction costs that will exceed $600 million. AAR broke ground on April 6, 2024 on an expansion of its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Will Rogers World Airport, adding more than 80,000 square feet of hangar and warehouse space and 200 positions. Smaller operators ask for a fraction of those sizes, but with the same features.
Airfield rules, height limits and permits
Near an airfield, height and lighting restrictions apply, and construction cranes can themselves be obstructions. We check approach surfaces and notice requirements before we select a crane, and we coordinate with the airport authority or the base where our work falls under their review. The permit set may include separate reviews for fire, environmental and stormwater items.
Will Rogers World Airport covers 8,081 acres about six miles southwest of downtown Oklahoma City, and its longest runway, 17L/35R, is 9,802 feet of concrete. Lariat Landing, directly east of the airport along I-44, includes over 400 acres, including more than 401 acres of aviation airfield land and about 88 acres of industrial and commercial land, with tenants including Amazon, FedEx and SkyWest Airlines. Land that sits on airport property is generally leased, not purchased, so lease terms can affect how you finance a building.
Slabs and structure for heavy aircraft and freight
We coordinate the concrete work that sets the quality of a hangar floor or a cargo apron: grading, subbase, reinforcement, placement and finishing. A hangar slab may carry towed aircraft and heavy jacks, and a cargo dock may carry loaded pallet jacks all day. We tune the thickness, reinforcement and joint layout to the loads that your operations team provides, and see our industrial concrete floors page for how we do.
On the structural side, we coordinate the erection of steel frames or tilt panels and any bridge cranes or hoists that you need. A high-bay crane-ready building needs column and foundation design that considers the crane before the first footing is poured, so we get that information early.
Security, FOD and storm planning
Working beside an active airfield or a base adds requirements: badging, escorted access, controlled haul routes and foreign object debris control so that nothing blows or falls onto a taxiway. We manage a clean site, wash trucks at the exit and keep our laydown yards well inside the fence.
A May 8, 2003 F4 tornado, about 17 miles long and 700 yards wide, crossed I-240 at Sooner Road and then crossed Tinker Air Force Base, with 45 injuries and no deaths. That history is a good reason to review hangar door ratings and the roof tie-downs with your engineer, and to plan where staff would shelter.
Cargo, carriers and the support chain
The air corridor east of the airport shows the range of users: express carriers, airlines and distribution tenants. Their warehouses benefit from truck-court design that separates airside and landside traffic, and from large cross-dock facilities that move freight quickly between aircraft and trucks. Our cross-dock facilities work addresses that flow.
Support businesses such as ground-handling firms, parts suppliers, tooling shops and cleaning contractors also need space, and they usually take mid-size buildings near the airport and base but outside the fence. I-40 on the Tinker Diagonal gives them direct access.
Planning around operations
Work next to an operating facility is scheduled around restricted hours and security screening. We plan material deliveries, crane picks and concrete placements for permitted windows and allow time for badging of new workers. A late badge can stop a crew for days, so we start that process early.
For long-lead equipment such as hangar doors and fire suppression systems, we place orders before construction starts and put them on a shared schedule. The time between permit approval and move-in is shorter when the door manufacturer already has the shop drawings approved.
Bring us your hangar or cargo program
Tell us the aircraft or freight you handle and the parcel or lease you are considering. We will review height limits, access and permit steps, and send a first concept and budget. For related service and industry context, see our pages on Oklahoma City, Midwest City and 3PL operators.
Common Questions
Can I build on airport property?
Airport land is typically leased from the airport authority under a ground lease. The lease terms, the minimum standards for tenants and the review of your plans all affect the project. We can work within those requirements and help estimate costs so you can negotiate the lease with real numbers.
What clear height does a hangar need?
It depends on the aircraft you service. The tail height, door opening and any hoists or cranes set the height. We ask for your aircraft list and maintenance plan before we size the structure, because retrofitting a hangar for a taller aircraft is expensive.
Is it better to build next to the airport or next to the base?
The answer depends on your customers. Commercial cargo and airline work tends to sit near Will Rogers, while military sustainment suppliers sit near Tinker. The distance between them is short, and both are reached by the interstate system. We compare sites based on your actual workflow.
How do you handle security on the jobsite?
We follow the access rules set by the airport or base, including badging and escorts, and we keep a roster of workers. We build the schedule to account for the time these steps take.