Will Provide Maintenance For Deer Valley Training Facility

Cutter Aviation announced this week a partnership with TransPac Aviation Academy -- formerly Pan Am International Flight Academy -- at Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT). The contract calls for Cutter to provide maintenance and inspection service for academy aircraft.

Representatives with the company state favorable economic conditions and air carrier growth in overseas markets have created a significant demand for foreign pilot training in the Phoenix area. As a result, TransPac found itself challenged to keep the supply of aircraft "on the line" in balance with the daily student training demand while enforcing high safety standards.

Aircraft grounded for minor squawks or inspections burdened in-house maintenance technicians while decreasing academy dispatch rates.

Seeking a solution to the problem, TransPac managers turned to Cutter Aviation for assistance. Already the sole fuel provider for the academy, Cutter proposed to TransPac a plan to utilize the existing service facilities and technical staff at Cutter Aviation DVT to perform maintenance and inspections on academy aircraft in tandem with in-house technicians to eliminate the backlog and ease future bottlenecks.

"To provide the best service to our students, we need to have the majority of our fleet ready for their use... not sitting on the ground waiting for service," said Jim DeLong, President of TransPac Aviation Academy. "Having this kind of top-notch service right next door at Cutter greatly assists us in keeping the fleet in the air without increasing our overhead in these tight financial times."

Under the terms of the partnership, Cutter Aviation receives each aircraft for service as a kit -- with all parts and equipment needed for the service to be performed readily available. As TransPac primarily operates Piper products and Cutter Aviation is an Authorized Piper Service Center, aircraft familiarity and experience in type isn’t an issue.

The partnership with Cutter Aviation offers unparalleled flexibility for TransPac as well. "If demand increases for a certain time period, Cutter Aviation has the ability to bring technicians in from our headquarters location at Phoenix Sky Harbor" said Brad Kathrins, Cutter Aviation General Manager. "We are uniquely suited to adapt to the maintenance needs of the academy with very little effort from either company."

FMI: www.cutteraviation.com, www.panamacademy.net