SAVANNAH, Ga., April 12, 2010 — The Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. service center in Long Beach, CA, has received the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Employer Diamond Award of Excellence. It is the 10th straight year the facility has been honored with the achievement.
“Each year, our Long Beach facility invests in hundreds of training hours to ensure its technicians are highly qualified, efficient and safety-minded,” said Mark Burns, president, Gulfstream Product Support. “Our customers reap the benefits of this investment with the assurance of a well-trained and customer-focused team providing maintenance on their aircraft. We are very proud that the FAA continues to recognize Long Beach year after year.”
The AMT program was created in 1991 to recognize FAA-certified aviation mechanics and their employers for participating in supplemental aviation training and other continuing-education courses. The awards program was revamped in 2009 and is now called the William (Bill) O’Brien AMT Awards Program, named for the longtime FAA employee who worked tirelessly to promote aviation safety. O’Brien, who retired in 2007 as the FAA’s National Resource Specialist, died in 2008.
Companies that qualify for the Diamond Award of Excellence must ensure 100 percent of their eligible employees receive an individual O’Brien Award during the calendar year. Long Beach’s 109 eligible employees earned six Gold Awards, 86 Silver Awards and 17 Bronze Awards.
Individual awards are based on minimum hours of AMT training — 80 for gold, 40 for silver and 12 for bronze. In addition, Gold Award winners must complete a three-credit aviation career-related college course.
