Dec. 5, 2022
NBAA staff recently took part in the annual Lake Area Technical College (LATC) Business Aviation Day in South Dakota, which is designed to promote to students the exciting and rewarding maintenance career opportunities available in the industry.
“The student interaction was great,” said NBAA Northern Mountain Regional Director Kristi Ivey, who was on hand for the event. “This is one of the only opportunities for A&P students to get business aviation exposure around the country.”
The students who attended met with industry representatives and also had breakout sessions on various sectors of the industry, such as precision machining, professional piloting and more. In addition to NBAA, industry representatives included: Fargo Jet Center, Bismarck Aero, Elliott Aviation, Bank of America, 3M, Bombardier, Gulfstream. Textron, Viasat, Duncan Aviation, Standard Aero and West Star Aviation.
Ivey, along with NBAA Director, Environmental and Technical Operations Stewart D’Leon, CAM, highlighted the association’s student resources such as the NBAA Mentoring Network, internships, student memberships, regional groups, the NBAA Jobs Board and more. They also encouraged students to apply for various NBAA scholarships to help them grow in their careers, and noted the Dec. 13 deadline of the AMT Scholarship and the Hank Hilsmann Memorial Scholarship.
Learn more about NBAA’s scholarship program.
Also at the event, John Bucher, a founder of the NBAA Maintenance Committee and the LATC Business Aviation Day, was honored with the FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, named for the mechanic who built the engine for the Wright Brothers.
“The Charles Taylor award is a great honor and it was fantastic to be there to see it bestowed upon John Bucher in recognition of the impact he’s had on this sector of our industry,” said D’Leon.
NBAA’s Stewart D’Leon
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.