Tempe, Arizona: Honeywell Aerospace Plans $500 Million Plant and 600 Jobs, the Largest Aerospace Investment in City History

Honeywell Aerospace says it will build a $500 million manufacturing plant in Tempe, a 300,000 square foot facility on the company's existing campus that Tempe Mayor Corey Woods described as the largest aerospace investment in the city's history.

The company announced the project on Wednesday, October 28. Honeywell Aerospace is based in Phoenix and spun off from its parent company, Honeywell, earlier this year. It already employs roughly 8,000 people in the Phoenix area, according to The Arizona Republic, and the Tempe plant will sit near its global headquarters.

What the plant will make

The facility will manufacture systems and parts for commercial and defense aircraft, including engine start systems and environmental control systems, spokesperson Adam Kress told the Republic. The company's own announcement names the next generation of its Assure advanced actuation systems and its Attune vapor cycle cooling subsystems among the product lines the plant will support.

Kress said raw material will enter the plant and move through machining, heat treatment, subassembly, final assembly, testing, inspection and shipment inside one site. The company calls that an end to end production model, built around an integrated digital production system with modular robotics, automated inspection and digital twins. Honeywell says the added machining capacity matters because complex machining is a part of its supply base that is currently constrained, and bringing it in house is meant to make the supply chain more resilient.

Jobs and the opening date

The plant is scheduled to open in late 2028. Honeywell says it will create approximately 600 jobs over time, in engineering and skilled manufacturing roles, and that construction of the facility will support more than 1,000 local jobs.

Woods said the project sets the stage for further growth in the region's aerospace, technology and manufacturing sectors and strengthens Arizona's position in the global market. The announcement came months after the spin off that made Honeywell Aerospace an independent, publicly traded company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker HONA.

Why the company says it is building now

"Demand for technology from Honeywell Aerospace continues to accelerate across both commercial and defense markets, and this major investment ensures we can continue delivering for our customers while unlocking long term growth for our shareholders," Jim Currier, the company's president and chief executive officer, said in the announcement. He said the recent spin into an independent company lets Honeywell Aerospace make decisions and investments that support its growth and the future of aviation and defense.

The company says the Tempe capacity will support growth on current programs and $15 billion in new Control Systems program wins. It will also add capacity for priority production of defense technologies covered by a supplier framework agreement the company signed with the Department of War in March.