WESTFIELD – While most Westfield Technical Academy seniors are graduating June 3, the students in Aviation Maintenance Technology have a little longer to go.

“This whole COVID thing has put us in a tailspin,” said Aviation Technology Director Galen Wilson, referring to the school closing down in March 2020.

“We were able to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and they worked with us, and allowed us to do a percentage of the certification program remotely. The FAA did have pretty strict guidelines. We were not allowed to give written tests. We were able to get through lectures, presentations, readings and reading assignments,” he said.

“It actually wasn’t horrible, we were able to capitalize on it, and the kids got something out of it.” Wilson said, adding, “Our remote teachings got better and better. In May of last year, we started flattening our own curve, and started becoming better instructors online.” He said talking to his colleagues in other WTA shops, they all started off “a little lumpy.”

However, Wilson said nothing takes the place of hands-on learning. “I can theoretically talk to you about starting an engine, and if it doesn’t start, how to troubleshoot. But to get you on an airplane, that’s where you learn.”

Wilson said last year, they were allowed to bring the seniors back during the shutdown and were afforded the opportunity to educate them in their classroom in Hangar 2 at Westfield Barnes Airport with the doors open. The class of 2020 graduated in July 2020, and this year, the aviation class of 2021 will graduate on July 16 in a ceremony out at the hangar.

Wilson said this year’s seniors still have required hours to make up in the FAA certified curriculum. “The FAA accepted the curriculum at 1,250 hours, now we must put the students through 1,250 hours. Right now, they’re 130 hours short, which means we have to keep them on board for another month. That’s why their graduation is pushed out to July 16,” Wilson said, adding, “We’ve been talking about it for a year, so they’re not surprised by it. They do love aviation, enjoy being part of aviation, and they want that certification and licensure.

"Wilson said what’s interesting this year, unlike any other year, is that the seniors are all signing up to take the FAA test immediately. He said they will graduate on a Friday, and a lot of them are taking the test the next Monday. “It’s what they should do anyway, kids waiting until months afterwards struggle, because everything is not fresh.”

Students that graduate from the Aviation Technology program have a wide range of career choices in front of them. This year’s 13 seniors, which include four women, are making plans to study mechanical engineering in college, attend Aviation school, go into the military, become a military pilot, or go directly into the field, among other plans.

Wilson said the three primary teachers in Aviation Technology, including himself, Christopher Chaves and Scott Hepburn, are all pilots and FAA certified technicians; all are educated in engineering, and all of them have a military background. “We all enjoy flying planes, fixing them, designing them and talking about them. Other than the FAA certification for maintenance, all of this extra stuff is just a plus,” he said, adding, “We can steer a student down any path a student wants to go down.”

When asked about the impact of COVID–19 on the aviation job market, Wilson said throughout the pandemic, many airplanes were grounded. Now, as the pandemic stranglehold is released, they’re flying more and more, and the companies are actively looking for mechanics, avionics technicians and pilots.

“The best thing an airplane can do is fly; the more you fly them the better. If they sit on the ground for a long period of time, things just happen – seals start to decay, things start leaking. If you keep an aircraft on the ground for a year, it’s going to take a lot of maintenance to get it going. That’s what these kids at AMT can do. Once they graduate and get their license, they can go right into the industry. Some of them do go into the industry, but not many; most go onto college, continuing education, military and then the industry,” Wilson said.

The current year is the last year for a Gulfstream grant which helped to get the program started. “We’re pretty much in place. We have all the aircraft, equipment and tooling that we need. Thank you very much Gulfstream, they helped us out tremendously – we would not be where we are without them. We’re very grateful,” Wilson said.

Now the school is looking to the future and submitted a grant application of $400,000 through the FAA to “dive deeper” into avionics – aviation electronics. “Times have changed, it’s all about technology,” Wilson said, adding that it will take equipment and tooling.

“If we want to make the program better with avionics we’re going to need more funding. We’ve got a great thing going,” Wilson said.