Aircraft mechanics are ticket to travel

Venezia in high school had an old car and had to get it running if she wanted to go to town 15 miles away. Enlisting in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic was her ticket to travel and be around fast planes.

"It was an exciting job,” Venezia said. "As a crew chief, my name was on the side of a plane, and I was in charge of a piece of machinery, the F15 jet, that in 1989 cost $15 million.”

Upon discharge, Venezia performed heavy main-tenance checks for AAR Corp. in Oklahoma City, among other jobs, before joining Metro Technology Centers as an airframe high school teacher two years ago.

She teaches several subjects, from how to use a screwdriver, to how to tear apart a landing gear strut and put it back together.

Forty high school students and 176 adults are enrolled in the 18-month program, director Pete Lee said. Many are coming through as a second career, he added. Classes are offered 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays.

Ninety percent of graduates go to work for the Air Logistics center at Tinker Air Force Base, starting at $20 an hour, Lee said. After a year in the program, students can intern at the center for $15 an hour, up to 30 hours a week.

In Tulsa, Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology has 420 students in aviation maintenance technology.

"People are getting more and more savvy about choosing skilled trades as a career,” President and Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Gibson said.

The school, which also offers associate and bachelor’s programs, has a 91 percent placement rate in aircraft mechanics, Gibson said. Most graduates join companies in the aviation industry, though only 8 percent go to work for major airlines, he said.

Graduates’ expertise in airframe, power plant, structural mechanics and fabrication give them many employment opportunities outside aviation, Gibson said, including wind power, automotive and heavy equipment, auto body collision repair and NASCAR.

Spartan graduate Max Bradley works as a project lead for AAR. Headquartered outside Chicago, AAR provides a range of services for the aviation industry and employs more than 6,000 at 60 locations worldwide, including 700 in Oklahoma City.

Bradley manages periodic inspections of aircrafts’ hydraulics and electrical components among other things.

"The biggest issue is corrosion, which can show up in places that you don’t always know,” he said. "Anything metal can get a lot of moisture, which will cause fatigue and make it thinner, and that’s not good.”

Bradley likes the sense of accomplishment that comes with working a project from start to finish.

"Aircraft mechanics,” he said, "must be perfectionists, say what they’re thinking and not back down, and be trustworthy.” If not, people’s lives are on the line.

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