Aircraft mechanic school opens near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Mar 14, 2024, 9:27 AM
PHOENIX – The Aviation Institute of Maintenance recently opened a new campus in a former call center near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The aircraft mechanic school is located at the AMPlify Riverpoint business park on 32nd Street south of Interstate 10. In addition to classrooms, the 80,300-square-foot campus has a welding room, a composite lab and two large hangars that can accommodate work on planes and helicopters.
“We are an aviation city, this is one of our key industries in this community, so I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that we’re turning a former call center into a center of education for high-wage and high-skilled employment,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a press release last week. Gallego attended a grand opening event at the school in February.
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The new campus is a 4-mile drive from both Sky Harbor and South Mountain High School. The Aviation Institute of Maintenance is partnering with the high school to offer dual-credit aviation maintenance classes. AIM also has an ongoing partnership with American Airlines.
“We selected this area not because it’s a 4-mile drive to the airport but because the South Mountain Village is an area that we identified as a place where we could bring great opportunities,” Aviation Institute of Maintenance President Joel English said the release.
AIM, which started in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1969, now has campuses in 15 cities across the U.S.
What training is offered at new Phoenix aviation maintenance school?
Students can receive aircraft mechanic training at the Phoenix campus through a 21-month program. The classes are designed to prepare students to pass the Federal Aviation Administration test to become a certified airframe and powerplant technician.
The Phoenix branch also is offering a six-week online aviation maintenance certification continuing education course for professionals in the field.
The new campus includes an American Airlines community room with space for about 100 people. Community groups can use the room for meetings and other gatherings at no charge.
The project was developed by Phoenix Rising Investments, with Tempe’s Evolution Design as the design partner and Phoenix-based Willmeng Construction as the general contractor.
