MC Board Members to Talk About Aviation Maintenance Program

Aug. 23—The consideration of options for the reopening of the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program at Midland College is on the board of trustees' agenda on Tuesday.

The board will have its monthly meeting at 4 p.m. inside Cowden Rotary Community Room at the June & Frank Cowden Jr. Dining Hall.

There has been an effort to bring the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program back to life in recent months. In the spring, a meeting at the program's home at Midland International Airport to see what support there was for keeping the program.

It was there that officials from Kepler Aerospace, a tenant at the spaceport, stated the need for aviation mechanics. During subsequent public meetings and in op-ed articles in the Reporter-Telegram, Ed and Dianne Anderson have stated the need to train and maintain technicians, especially if Midland Development Corp. wanted to expand on the aerospace economy it is establishing with AST & Science and Kepler Aerospace, not to mention the charter aircraft companies like Deerhorn Aviation.

In a July op-ed Ed Anderson wrote, "As of this writing, there are 22-24 available positions for AMTs in Midland, Odessa and Andrews. This number is the result of a survey taken last month among nine aviation related companies. ... We have a fast-developing aviation and aerospace industry in Midland, but we have competition. One Permian Basin company recently lost AMTs to Blue Origin, located in Van Horn.

Anderson told the Reporter-Telegram in an email on Monday that he is "hopeful the board will vote to reopen the Aviation Maintenance Technology (Airframe and Powerplant) program at Midland College."

"The board has heard from the community over the past several months, and it is clear the community wants this program to be restarted," Anderson wrote. "No one has come forward to say, 'We should keep this school closed.' If the board decides to reopen the school, the trustees and the administration will probably expect those who have come forward to support the school to be closely involved in its future success. That goal is achievable; we can make this school a prized and valuable part of Midland College and the Permian Basin."

Midland College President Steve Thomas said in April that there was no saving the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program at Midland College, even if someone came along with the money to help fund it.

Midland College board members have talked about the program in closed session since Thomas made those comments.

"We have already undergone procedures to 'sunset' the program, which means we have notified FAA and the program accrediting agencies," Thomas said in the statement. "We also notified the advisory committee, faculty and students over a year ago that the program was closing. Faculty are retiring, and we are not recruiting new students. We are planning other uses for the facility."

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