FAA Gives Nod for Colorado Aircraft Maintenance Program

Colorado training program plans to launch in January.

FAA Gives Nod for Colorado Aircraft Maintenance Program
[Credit: Aims]
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Key Takeaways:

  • Aims Community College secured FAA certification for its Aircraft Maintenance Technician (AMT) program, officially designating it a Part 147 aviation maintenance school.
  • The AMT program, launching January 2026, will train students for Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) licenses to meet a projected global demand for over 700,000 aviation technicians.
  • Aims anticipates training up to 300 students at capacity and graduating 150 technicians annually.
  • The college also established a hiring pathway agreement with Frontier Airlines, offering qualified graduates a $25,000 signing bonus for a three-year commitment.
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Aims Community College said Wednesday that it has secured FAA certification for its Aircraft Maintenance Technician program, set to begin in January 2026. The designation makes Aims an official Part 147 aviation maintenance school, authorizing it to deliver the training required for students to test for their Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) licenses. A certificate presentation ceremony with FAA officials took place December 12 at the school’s newly completed Aircraft Maintenance Training Center at Northern Colorado Regional Airport.

According to Michael Sasso, Aims’ Chief of Aircraft Maintenance, the program is structured to align directly with FAA requirements and prepare students for immediate entry into the aviation maintenance field.

“The FAA certification is the official stamp that we are a program that can produce certificated aviation maintenance technicians,” he said.

The AMT program is designed to support broader workforce demands, as industry projections estimate a growing need for more than 700,000 technicians worldwide over the next 30 years. Aims said it anticipates training 275 to 300 students at any given time once at capacity, graduating up to 150 technicians annually.

The school also said it finalized a hiring pathway agreement with Frontier Airlines, including $25,000 signing bonuses for qualified graduates with a three-year commitment to the airline. Frontier holds a position on the program’s advisory board and may contribute additional resources to support training efforts, the program said.

Matt Ryan

Matt is AVweb's lead editor. His eyes have been turned to the sky for as long as he can remember. Now a fixed-wing pilot, instructor and aviation writer, Matt also leads and teaches a high school aviation program in the Dallas area. Beyond his lifelong obsession with aviation, Matt loves to travel and has lived in Greece, Czechia and Germany for studies and for work.
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