Honeywell Aerospace Plans $500M Tempe Plant, 600 Jobs by Late 2028

Honeywell Aerospace Tempe operations will grow by a new $500 million, 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility, the company announced Wednesday afternoon, October 28, 2026. The plant, planned for its campus in Tempe, Arizona, is expected to open in late 2028, create about 600 permanent jobs over time and support more than 1,000 local construction jobs (PR Newswire).

This is a developing story. The announcement came in a company press release issued at 4:05 p.m. Eastern time, the same day Honeywell Aerospace reported its third quarter results. Details such as the construction start date, the design and construction team and any public incentives have not been released.

What Happened

Honeywell Aerospace, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker HONA, said it will build the facility on its Tempe campus, near its global headquarters in Phoenix (PR Newswire). The company framed the project as a response to rising orders from both airlines and the military. Chief executive Jim Currier said in the release that demand for the company’s technology “continues to accelerate across both commercial and defense markets” (PR Newswire).

In its third quarter earnings release the same day, the company described the project as a 300,000 square foot expansion of its Tempe manufacturing operations intended to add capacity, lean manufacturing, automation and supply chain resilience for its Control Systems business (Honeywell Aerospace).

What Is Confirmed

• Investment: $500 million (PR Newswire).
• Size: 300,000 square feet on the existing Tempe campus (PR Newswire).
• Opening: expected in late 2028 (PR Newswire).
• Jobs: about 600 permanent positions over time, plus more than 1,000 local jobs during construction (PR Newswire).
• Production: internal complex machining, which the company says is a constrained part of its supply base, and more vertically integrated production of its Assure advanced actuation systems and Attune vapor cycle cooling subsystems (IndexBox).
• Technology: an integrated digital production system with modular robotics, automated inspection, digital twins and an end to end digital thread (PR Newswire).

The company tied the plant to $15 billion in Control Systems new program wins and to a supplier framework agreement with the Department of War signed in March for priority production of critical defense technologies (IndexBox). When that agreement was reported in March, Honeywell committed to invest $500 million of its own money to upgrade its factories and speed up production of navigation systems, control systems and missile guidance parts (AZFamily). The October release is the first time the company has named a specific new building and site.

Company Context

The announcement arrived with a solid quarter. Honeywell Aerospace reported third quarter sales of $4.644 billion, up 2%, and a backlog of $19.324 billion, up 12% from a year earlier, with orders led by Defense and Space (Honeywell Aerospace). Capital expenditures rose to $168 million in the quarter from $138 million a year earlier, and to $428 million for the first nine months of the year (Honeywell Aerospace). The company also raised the low end of its second half free cash flow outlook to $1.2 billion (Honeywell Aerospace). Honeywell Aerospace already employs more than 7,000 people in Arizona, making it one of the state’s largest employers (AZFamily).

What It Means for Owners and Contractors

A $500 million, 300,000 square foot precision machining and assembly plant is a large and technically demanding building. Plants built around robotics, automated inspection and digital twins typically need heavy and tightly controlled power distribution, compressed air and process utilities, vibration sensitive slabs for machine tools, and climate control for measurement and inspection areas. Defense work adds security requirements that shape site layout, access control and information systems from the start of design.

The schedule is short for a project of this size. With an opening targeted for late 2028 and no construction start date yet announced, design, permitting and early procurement will need to move quickly. Long lead electrical gear such as switchgear and transformers remains one of the hardest items to secure on a timeline like this, so owners planning similar projects should lock in those packages early.

The project also adds to a crowded Phoenix area industrial pipeline. Just a day earlier, nVent said it had leased a 400,000 square foot plant in Goodyear for engineered electrical buildings (nVent Leases 400,000 SF Arizona Plant for E-Houses, 200+ Jobs). The 1,000 or more construction jobs Honeywell expects will draw on the same pool of electricians, pipefitters and millwrights that semiconductor and other plant projects across the region are competing for.

Nationally, the announcement fits a steady run of defense and aerospace manufacturing investment. Recent examples include Lockheed Martin’s $300 million expansion of its Grand Prairie, Texas munitions plant (Lockheed Martin Invests $300M to Expand Grand Prairie Munitions Plant) and BAE Systems’ purchase of a 130,000 square foot plant in Colorado for space hardware (BAE Systems Buys 130,000 SF Weld County Plant for Space Hardware, 600 Jobs). For specialty subcontractors and suppliers that work in controlled manufacturing environments, these projects are a growing share of available work.

What to Watch

• A construction start date and the selection of a general contractor or design builder, neither of which has been announced.
• Any City of Tempe site plan or building permit filings for the facility.
• Whether state or local incentives are attached; the release did not mention any (PR Newswire).
• Further detail from management on how the $500 million is spent across 2026 through 2028 as capital spending rises.

Key Questions

What is Honeywell Aerospace building in Tempe, Arizona?

Honeywell Aerospace plans a new 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility on its Tempe, Arizona campus that will handle complex machining and production of actuation and vapor cycle cooling systems for commercial and defense aircraft (PR Newswire).

How much will the Honeywell Aerospace Tempe plant cost?

The company put the investment at $500 million. It has not said how that amount is split between the building, equipment and other costs (PR Newswire).

When will the Honeywell Tempe facility open, and how many jobs will it create?

Honeywell Aerospace expects the Tempe facility to open in late 2028, adding about 600 permanent jobs over time and supporting more than 1,000 local construction jobs. A construction start date has not been announced (PR Newswire).

Related Coverage

• nVent Leases 400,000 SF Arizona Plant for E-Houses, 200+ Jobs
• Lockheed Martin Invests $300M to Expand Grand Prairie Munitions Plant
• BAE Systems Buys 130,000 SF Weld County Plant for Space Hardware, 600 Jobs
• Carrier to Invest $600M in Fort Worth Chiller Plant, 1,500 Jobs

Image credit: Yaroslav Muzychenko on Unsplash. Free license photo; the cited sources did not include a usable project image.

Sources

• PR Newswire, “Honeywell Aerospace to build new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Arizona to support growing commercial and defense demand,” https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/honeywell-aerospace-to-build-new-state-of-the-art-manufacturing-facility-in-arizona-to-support-growing-commercial-and-defense-demand-302922548.html
• Honeywell Aerospace, “Honeywell Aerospace reports third quarter results; updates 2026 outlook,” https://investor.honeywellaerospace.com/news-releases/news-release-details/honeywell-aerospace-reports-third-quarter-results-updates-2026
• AZFamily, “Honeywell Aerospace agrees to $500 million deal to increase production,” https://www.azfamily.com/2026/03/29/honeywell-aerospace-agrees-500-million-deal-increase-production/
• IndexBox, “Honeywell Aerospace to Build $500M Tempe, Arizona Manufacturing Facility,” https://www.indexbox.io/blog/honeywell-aerospace-plans-500-million-arizona-manufacturing-facility/