July 17, 2011
By Alicia Myers
Several hundred aviation jobs could be headed to Salina. One of the largest aviation service companies in the world is holding a job fair, looking to see if the community is the perfect match.
The aviation industry is no stranger to Kansas.
Soon, another kind of aviation company could be headed our way, that is if everything is just right for the AAR Corp.
“There was about six months last year, where all of our four facilities were full. We’re out looking for the possibility of additional facility space around the country,” said Stan Mayer, VP of Operations for AAR MRO Group.
So far, Salina has swooned the company.
“They’ve got some brand new facilities that are available, and they actually fit the regional airplanes pretty well. The footprint’s good. It’s in the middle of the country, so, the location is pretty good for the customer base that we’re looking after,” said Mayer.
AAR specializes in maintenance, repair and overhaul, or MRO operations. The company flies in planes from all over, for anywhere from one to four weeks.
“Go through the airplane from the nose to the tail, and wing-tip to wing-tip, and check air-free systems on the airplane, open up all the inspection panels, look at the hydraulics, the electrical systems, look at the power plans, the whole airplane and make sure it’s repaired or maintained,” said Tim Rogers, Salina Airport Authority, Executive Director.
With recent layoffs at Salina’s Hawker-Beechcraft division, Rogers says Salina has the workforce and more, making them available now.
“We have the airfield, airport facilities, a 12,300 foot-long runway,” said Rogers.
“We have customers, and we have contracts that we’re working on today. The need for the facility could be as early as the first of the year,” said Mayer. “If everything is there we’ll need, I think we can add something good for the Salina area.”
AAR will hold a job fair at Hangar 600 in Salina on Monday and Tuesday from 7am to 7pm.
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/Aviation_Maintenance_Company_Looks_At_Adding_Hundreds_Of_Jobs_In_Salina_125724943.html
set by Congress, does not saddle operators with new and onerous administrative burdens and is not subject to annual increases set by the federal bureaucracy, the groups added.
“We urge you not to create an expensive new federal collection bureaucracy that will need to be funded on the backs of general aviation operators in the name of deficit reduction,” they wrote. “It is a nonsensical and self-defeating approach.”
http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2011/110719dont-fund-bureaucracy-with-user-fees.html?WT.mc_id=ebrief
Source: KAKELAND
Date: 2011-07-17