Training Facility to be Located at Albany International Airport

The idea of offering a training program for aviation mechanics and service technicians is finally coming to fruition at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, New York. 

The 12-month training will take place in a hangar referred to as HVCC West at Albany International Airport (KALB) in Albany. The official name of the facility is the Aeronautical Technology Institute, which is about to receive FAA certification as a Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technical School.

The story began in 2021 when Phil Calderone, CEO of Albany Airport, got word that the Aviation Maintenance program was being discontinued at Champlain Valley Educational Services in Plattsburgh. Calderone contacted HVCC which acquired all the equipment from the Plattsburgh program for $1.5 million through combined financial support from a federal Perkins Grant, HVCC Faculty Student Association, and Hudson Valley Community College Foundation.

HVCC said that in a survey of regional airlines at KALB, all of the carriers responded that their needs will exceed 10 additional aviation technicians per year for the next five years. In the Capital Region of New York – Albany and its surrounding areas – aviation maintenance and service technicians can expect an average salary of $70,000 or more per year.

One of the people who will take advantage of the new program is Torre Tamez, 19, of nearby Austerlitz, New York. Two years ago she enlisted as a UH-60 Black Hawk mechanic in the Army National Guard. However, it was only part-time and wants to continue maintaining and repairing helicopters in a civilian capacity. Very few schools in New York offer such a program, so for her, the new HVCC certification program begins at the perfect time in her career and she has enrolled in it.

Torre said, “I just thought it would be awesome doing it full-time because I loved doing it part-time. I was very excited to have something closer to home.” She said it’s extremely important to use the manual regardless of the task at hand. She went on to say, “This career you can’t have a big ego in. Let’s say you’re changing your main landing gear tire. If you say. ‘I’ve done this a million times. I don’t need to look at the manual,’ that’s when you start missing things.”

FMI: https://www.hvcc.edu/ati/programs/aviation-maintenance-tech.html