Garmin expands Mesa Gateway flight-test and certification facilities

Garmin expands flight-test and certification footprint at Mesa Gateway

Garmin is acquiring a hangar and office complex at Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA) in Mesa, Arizona, to expand capacity for its aircraft certification and flight test organizations. The facility comprises two adjacent hangars totaling about 75,000 square feet and includes office space for roughly 75 associates, joining Garmin’s flight operations centers in New Century, Kansas, and Salem, Oregon. The move is aimed at supporting more frequent on-aircraft evaluations and reducing logistical constraints for aircraft movements and scheduling.

Executive Vice President Phil Straub says the Mesa Gateway location will help extend airworthiness approvals and market coverage for Garmin product lines and represents continued investment in aviation infrastructure. Garmin is locating engineering, certification and flight-test personnel in contiguous spaces to streamline coordination and accelerate integration of avionics systems across a broader range of platforms. The added hangar space and adjacent offices are intended to shorten feedback loops between engineering and flight operations, enabling faster iteration during development and certification activities.

Mesa Gateway’s runway length and climate underpin Garmin’s operational rationale. The airport offers three parallel runways, two exceeding 10,000 feet, and generally clear weather year-round, creating frequent flight test windows that can compress development cycles and reduce time to certification. Garmin’s presence complements a Phoenix-area engineering hub the company has sustained for more than 25 years — from Tempe to Chandler and more recently expanded in Scottsdale — and leverages local knowledge developed since its 2019 AeroData acquisition.

Aviation cluster strengthens supply-chain and customer support

The new facility sits among numerous aviation companies and manufacturer customer support centers, strengthening community value and operational synergies. Co-location with manufacturer support centers and legacy Garmin engineering sites improves supply-chain responsiveness and access to regional technical talent, which Garmin expects will support more efficient avionics integration and post-installation support.

Hiring focus and operational benefits

Garmin anticipates the expanded operations will enable hiring of experienced engineering, aircraft airworthiness approval and flight test personnel. By reducing logistics and scheduling constraints for on-site evaluations, the Mesa Gateway complex is designed to boost throughput of certification testing and support Garmin’s broader strategy to scale aviation product development and market coverage.