FAA Approves SUU’s Aviation Maintenance Technician Program

The federal government has given final approval to Southern Utah University (SUU)’s expansion of its aviation program. In December the Federal Aviation Administration granted final approval for a Part 147 certificate allowing SUU to offer Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) licenses to students upon successful completion of the academic program requirements and independent testing by a Designated Maintenance Examiner (DME).

“Historic changes are now underway,” said Michael Mower,executive director of SUU Aviation. “For the first time ever, an AviationMaintenance Technician (AMT) training program to include helicopters islaunching at SUU this semester. We worked with our partners in the industry,Washington, DC, and the Federal Aviation Administration to make this happen.”

SUU currently trains 10 percent of the nation’s helicopterpilots and a significant number of fixed-wing pilots. With this approval, SUUAviation is expanding its offerings and will begin training maintenancetechnicians through the Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Program in spring2020.

SUU’s AMT Program is the most up-to-date in the nation, withthe curriculum stemming from the Promoting Aviation Regulations for TechnicalTraining (PARTT) 147 Act (S.3043/H.R.5427) that was introduced to the House ofRepresentatives and Senate in December 2019. It's also the only A&P programwith helicopter maintenance used as the curriculum focus while still coveringairplane maintenance. The program is designed to be completed in fiveconsecutive semesters, resulting in an associate degree and A&P license.

Through the AMT Program, SUU hopes to contribute to thegrowing demand for aviation mechanics across the country. In the 2016 BoeingPilot and Technician Outlook, it was estimated there will be a need for 180,000new A&P Mechanics in North America by 2035.

With the shortage of maintenance technicians, regionalemployers are eager to support and hire graduates of the program and have beencrucial to the program’s approval. With the current demand, and an averagestarting wage of $52,000, these graduates can look forward to a greater andfaster return than most on their educational investment.

The first cohort of students will begin the AMT program inspring 2020. Currently, the building capacity is 250 students, but anadditional building and training equipment to accommodate 1000 students arepart of future plans.