49 Aviation Technology students honored
April 1, 2019
Tucson, AZ – Forty-nine students will mark the end of their Pima Community College Aviation Technology training during a completion ceremony April 5.
What: Aviation Technology Program Completion Ceremony
When: April 5, 2019, 6 p.m.
Where: Pima Aviation Technology Center (ATC), 7211 S. Park Ave.
Details: 206-5910; by invitation; media welcome; pima.edu/program/aviationtech
Upon completing the program, the students are eligible to take Federal Aviation Administration certification exams. Certification is required to work in the industry as an aircraft mechanic or structural repair craftsmen. Most Pima aviation program students have jobs by the time they graduate. Ascent Aviation Services and Bombardier Business Aircraft are just two of the companies with Tucson facilities that rely on Pima’s FAA-certified training. Since acquiring Marana Aerospace Solutions, Ascent is one of the largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul companies in North America.
Pima’s Dean of Applied Technology Greg Wilson will make welcoming remarks, while the Pima Vice President of Workforce Development Ian Roark will be the keynote speaker.
Aviation Technology Program Academic Director Jason Bowersock will present the certificates to students. Aviation Technology faculty Justin Eckert will be the master of ceremonies.
Hundreds of people, mostly the students’ families and friends, as well as local aviation professionals, will attend the ceremony in the 14,700-square-foot hangar at Pima’s Aviation Technology Center on the grounds of Tucson International Airport.
Pima’s program is approved by the FAA as an Aviation Maintenance Technician School. It offers year-round training, with certificates and degrees in FAA-certified Airframe and Powerplant courses, plus courses in a unique Structural Repair training that covers composites, the industry’s latest manufacturing technique. Pima also has a four-week course to help military aviation veterans prepare for FAA certification exams, and Avionics courses to prepare students for National Center for Aerospace & Transportation Technologies (NCATT) certification exams.
The annual mean wage for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in the Tucson metropolitan area is $57,090, for avionics technicians, $64,300, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth in the industry nationwide from 2016 to 2026 is expected to be 5 percent. But, southern Arizona job growth is being boosted by growing demand for new aircraft and new aviation technologies, the Arizona Daily Star reported in May 2016.
Pima has transfer partnerships with Eastern New Mexico University (Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Arts & Sciences, Aviation Studies), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (various degrees at many of its campuses, including the one in Tucson), as well as with Arizona State University for a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aviation Management Technology.
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