American Airlines subsidiary Envoy Air has confirmed it will open a new aircraft maintenance facility in Little Rock, Arkansas later this year to service its fleet of Embraer E175s.

As part of a $2m investment, the MRO said it will create up to 60 new jobs in the area over the next five years. Jay Murray, vice-president of Envoy’s maintenance division, said the new maintenance base will carry out scheduled overnight maintenance for up to four of E175s while providing line maintenance for 15 daily American Eagle flights from Little Rock to American Airlines’ hubs in Charlotte, Dallas and Chicago.

The Little Rock centre adds to Envoy’s existing facility at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, which it opened in 2004 to provide maintenance support for the 21 American and American Eagle routes.

“Having teams in both Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock will enable us to support our growing E175 operations in both Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth, and we’re looking forward to hiring many new mechanics and support personnel to operate this beautiful new facility,” Murray added.