Age: 31
Years in Aviation: 12
Anton Amaratunge is currently an aviation maintenance instructor at South Seattle College.
He grew up always wanting to work on aircraft so he got into an aviation maintenance program in Sri Lanka right after high school. “It was my dream job to fix airplanes and now I am living the dream,” he says.
Amaratunge holds a certificate of aircraft maintenance training in avionics category (under EASA part 147 curriculum) from Srilankan Technical Training in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and an associate of applied science degree in aviation maintenance technology and a bachelor of science degree in aviation maintenance from South Seattle College, Seattle, WA. He’s currently working on his master of education degree at the University of Washington.
He holds an FAA Airframe and Powerplant Certificate and an FCC General Radio Operator License with Ship Radar Endorsement.
Prior to his role at South Seattle College he held positions as a line avionics technician, with SriLankan Airlines, a systems mechanic at Aviation Technical Services in Everett, WA, and a maintenance service representative with Panasonic Avionics Corporation at SeaTac Airport.
Amaratunge says, “I volunteer to participate in any industry partnership activities to motivate younger kids to join the aviation industry and I have coordinated with students to volunteer at the museum of flight to help restore aircraft.”
Amaratunge is involved in numerous industry activities including the fighting 147 group in Washington state and attends quarterly conferences which involves all five A&P colleges in the state of Washington pushing toward a common curriculum and exploring other opportunities such as EASA training. He’s a member of the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) and the EASA accreditation movement in the U.S.
Amaratunge says, “My main goal is to stay in a position where I can motivate as many people as I can to fall in love with the industry I am passionate about. As an instructor, I love meeting so many different people from so many different cultures with different values and experiences which helps me to get excited to go to work every day. The sharing and the learning never stop in aviation and my goal is to stay in a position where I can learn as much I can share.”
