Aircraft Maintenance Education

June 27, 2013
Is the traditional A&P school program contracting or expanding?

News came across my desk today about the University of North Dakota (UND) Aerospace Foundation in Grand Forks donating $25,000 to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s struggling aircraft mechanics school. The donation is intended for scholarships to low-income students attending the airframe and power plant mechanic program. The news went on to explain how this school was threatened for closure by budget cuts, yet was saved through the efforts of a private donation and strong advocacy campaign. Both the Los Angeles Unified School District and UND should be commended for their efforts.

Yesterday I received an email from the Executive Director for the newly opened Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) A&P program in Las Vegas announcing the new program has begun with the first group of A&P students. Congratulations to AIM for their progressive support of our industry.

It’s also my understanding the longtime Blackhawk Technical College aviation program in Janesville Wisconsin, which I attended years ago, is due to be closed; apparently another victim of budget cuts or changes in school leadership philosophy. One month ago, just up the road in Appleton, WI, state politicians joined General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) officials for a General Aviation (GA) jobs rally held at the Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation facility. A point made at the rally was GA contributes more than $3.5 billion to this state’s economy annually and GAMA manufacturers alone employ more than 1,100 Wisconsinites. Am I missing something here?

These three examples (or conflicting signals) make me wonder … is traditional aircraft maintenance education contracting, expanding, or just changing. Granted situations are likely different from one institution to the next but did the leaders at Blackhawk (and I’m sure other similar schools) really try to make it work like in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. What is the future of traditional A&P school training?