Pima Community College Prepares For Aviation Tech Expansion | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Mon, Jun 10, 2019

Pima Community College Prepares For Aviation Tech Expansion

State Of Arizona Provides Funding For New Facilities

Southern Arizona’s aviation industry soon will get a much needed workforce boost following state one-time appropriation of $15 million to Pima Community College’s nationally recognized Aviation Technology Program.

The PCC Aviation Center is the only facility in Arizona to focus on maintenance and repair training for large transport commercial aircraft. The program expects to break ground on the expansion this fall and welcome new students as early as Fall 2020.

The funding was part of the Arizona Legislature’s $11.8 billion budget bill passed late this month. The funding will allow the College to double the facility to train aviation technology students, dramatically reducing or eliminating the current one-year wait time for students to get into the program. The funding also represents the first funding from the state to Pima Community College since 2015.

Currently the program trains 125 to 150 students a year in the facility adjacent to the Tucson International Airport. Expansion will allow the college to train 250 students a year, most of who are expected to have jobs lined up before they graduate.

Pima County represents the largest concentration of aviation occupations in the Southern Arizona region with 1,336 of the total 1,535 jobs reported in 2015. The College helps supply the workforce for 15 Arizona aviation employers.

“We are grateful to the legislature, Gov. Ducey, and all of our aviation partners for their support of this expansion,” said Pima Chancellor Lee Lambert. “Together we expect to create 300 additional direct jobs in the industry over the next 5 years.”

Graduates’ median annual earnings range from $57,000 for aircraft mechanics to $65,000 for avionics technicians, not including overtime and shift differential pay. Moreover, Pima is one of the few U.S. schools teaching the highly sought after and well-paying specialty of Advanced Structural Repair and Modification; is one of a handful of FAA-approved schools with curriculum covering commercial jet transports; and is one of only 87, or about half, of FAA-approved schools offering an Aviation Maintenance degree.

The College sought $20 million from the state, which would have provided for $15 million to construct the facility and $5 million for the purchase of equipment, and limited faculty salaries. The College will seek alternative sources of funding for equipment and faculty.

(Source: Pima Community College news release)

FMI: www.pima.edu

Advertisement

More News

NTSB Final Report: Aviat A1

Airplane Bounced About 3 Ft Then Touched Back Down And Then, With No Brakes Applied, The Airplane Began Veering To The Left Analysis: The pilot entered the airport traffic pattern >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.08.25)

Aero Linx: British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) The primary focus within all aviation activity is SAFETY. In all aspects of our sport SAFETY must come first, whether it b>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Fly Corvair’s Reliable Engine Alternative

From SnF25 (YouTube Edition): William Wynne Builds Practical Aircraft Engines on the Corvair Platform Seeking an affordable alternative to the traditional aircraft engine options, >[...]

ANN FAQ: Contributing To Aero-TV

How To Get A Story On Aero-TV News/Feature Programming How do I submit a story idea or lead to Aero-TV? If you would like to submit a story idea or lead, please contact Jim Campbel>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: CiES Fuel-Quantity and e-Throttle Systems Praised

From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Bridge of CiES CiES Inc. is a Bend, Oregon-based designer and manufacturer of modular embedded aircraft systems and sensors. The company’s fuel-l>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC