Another Airline Offloads Aging Plane for Use as Educational Device in Bid to Bolster Technician Education

Horizon Air donated one of its older Q400s to the Portland Community College Foundation for use in the school's Aviation programs. 

The maneuver seems to be a common one this year, as airlines look for possible uses for timed-out aircraft more sustainable than sending them out to a scrapyard. The sustainable solution might be donation to aviation maintenance degrees around the country, a solution that puts a well-used aircraft to work teaching the next generation of AMT's (while nabbing a handy little tax credit for the airline, in all likelihood). Even better, the airline will be able to reinforce valuable relationships to bolster its pipeline of qualified professionals while they're in their formative career years. 

The donated Q400 will be housed at Hillsboro Airport in Oregon, where students from the Aviation Science and Aviation Maintenance Technology schools. The avionics and structure will be left intact for students to learn on, with the engines used for additional hands-on training off the aircraft. Horizon made sure that there were plenty of learning materials for the students, with a donation of 50 iPads to read procedures and manuals much like they will in the workforce. 

“It’s critical to have hands-on experience for our students, and we’re doing that with this donation for aviation maintenance,” said Bennings. “Collaboration and partnership with the community make great things happen.”

“This is a huge dream coming true,” said Archie Vega, director of line maintenance and student development at Horizon Air.. “Our relationship with PCC is extremely strong. All the faculty and everyone associated with the school are an outstanding group of individuals over there. And I look forward to working with them all year long as we continue to grow.”

FMI: www.pcc.edu