An anticipated shortage of aircraft maintenance workers is driving some of Canada’s aviation colleges to update training facilities to keep pace with soaring demand.

The business-savvy Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) has recognized the importance of tapping into this expected demand, and has built a huge new training facility it says will allow its graduates to rise above their counterparts from other schools.

“We’ve consulted with industry, they’ve told us what they need (from the graduates), and we’ve responded to that,” says John Myers, SAIT’s manager of aviation business development and operations, transportation department.

The impetus for the new Art Smith Aero Centre for Training and Technology in Calgary came in 2002 after the release of a study by Human Resources Development Canada and the Canadian Aviation Maintenance Council.

Photo courtesy of Russ Peters, SAIT
SAIT’s Cessna 185 took the low route to the new aero training centre at the airport from the Colonel Walker Building.

The study revealed that by 2016, 40 to 60 per cent of the current maintenance personnel would retire, draining the labour pool.

With the centre’s launch, SAIT hopes to double its current number of 150 graduates per year to meet the projected industry demand.

The $22-million centre, nestled on the far side of the runway at the Calgary International Airport, opened for business in late August.

Myers calls it the most modern facility of its kind in Canada.

At 106,000 sq. ft., the Aero Centre is 50-per-cent larger than the space the aviation programs previously occupied on SAIT’s main campus in northwest Calgary.

It houses numerous specialized laboratories, including a complete avionics (aviation electronics) lab, a state-of-the-art computer room, an aerodynamics lab with subsonic and supersonic wind tunnels, a helicopter lab, and workshops for constructing and repairing aircraft structures.

But the centrepiece is the jaw-dropping, 20,000-sq.-ft. hangar big enough to envelope large commercial jets, known as “big iron.”

Myers says it is this feature that makes the SAIT facility unique in Canada.

“Some schools have small hangars, some are located next to airports, some even have the commercial jets to work on, but in terms of having the ability to work on airline-quality aircraft year-round, we’re leading the way.”

The Alberta government anted up most of the funding, while the federal government, the City of Calgary and the Calgary Airport Authority kicked in the rest.

Industry participation was also key for the centre’s success, Myers says.

Petro-Canada contributed a 20-seat passenger aircraft along with equipment to stock the avionics laboratory, while WestJet donated a Boeing 737-200 jet for students to crawl through.

“That jet is a good training tool,” says Tim Morgan, senior vice-president of operations for WestJet.

“We think it’s a big advantage to us because the students who come out of there will have that much more experience, so it’s an investment.”

Morgan agrees that keeping maintenance jobs filled could become tough.

“We’re big so people want to come to work for us, but in the overall industry, the market for maintenance people is tight,” he notes.

Co-ordinating with industry is also important to ensure that too many graduates don’t flood the job market at once. SAIT’s Myers says 96 per cent of graduates find work within a year of graduation.

Avmax Group Inc. is an aircraft maintenance and services company located just up the street from the new centre.

Avmax human resources director Kevin McAuley says the new facility’s location is also a big advantage. Avmax relies heavily on SAIT graduates for its staffing needs and likes to give students a headstart by employing them in part-time positions before they graduate.

SAIT’s aviation section also plans to offer more options. Most of the diploma programs now offered, such as the aircraft maintenance engineers technology, take two years to complete.

For instance, a 58-week fast-track course will be offered, which will allow students to enter the job market more quickly There are also plans to train general labourers – from baggage handlers to food service workers – to operate safely around aircraft.

Not to be outdone, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has a $60- million facility in the works that should begin operations in the fall of 2006, leading to a dramatic increase in the current 125 to 150 students who graduate each year.

The dean of BCIT’s school of transportation, Lane Potter, downplays any serious rivalry between the different aviation schools. Potter says he sees a more collaborative, rather than competitive, relationship.

“There’s enough difference between us and we’re spread out enough that one school doesn’t pose a threat to the other,” says Lane.

“And given the future labour needs of our industry, the job market should be able to accommodate everyone.”

Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is another Western Canadian school offering aviation programs, which include an avionics engineering technology two-year diploma in addition to a one-year aircraft skin and structure repair certificate course.