A new Ozarks Tech facility will be home to students studying for careers in the aviation field.
The ribbon was cut Wednesday on the Roy Blunt Aviation Training Center, located near the old Springfield airport terminal, at an event attended by at least 200 people. The center features four classrooms, two lab rooms, and an 11,000-square-foot hangar with mobile class zones. Students will have access to four airplanes and a helicopter.
Former U.S. Senator Blunt said the new facility will help fill a need in the workforce.
"The training facility at a time when so many people who know how to do this work are no longer going to be doing it," he said, "beginning to fill that gap, it means opportunities for the individuals, certainly, involved but also great potential opportunities for community."
Ozarks Tech recently launched its new Airframe & Powerplant or A&P program, which will instruct students in aviation mechanics. The first cohort will begin this fall at the new facility.
Springfield-Branson National Airport Director of Aviation Brian Weiler said he worked for several years to get American Airlines to expand their maintenance activities at the airport, "but what I kept hearing over and over again is we're worried about getting enough qualified mechanics from this region to staff such a facility, and I asked for help from Ozarks Tech."
In December of 2021, the ribbon was cut on a 60,000-square-foot maintenance base in Springfield for Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines. Weiler said the new Ozarks Tech aviation maintenance program will allow them to keep and expand those jobs. And he said the program will improve air service to the region since it gives airlines another reason to be here.
American has increased their available seats in the Springfield market 30% since the maintenance base opened, he said.
The $13.2 million Aviation Training Center was made possible through a combination of college funding and significant investment from federal, state and local sources, according to Ozarks Tech. The State of Missouri contributed $5 million to the facility through MoExcels program funding, the federal government contributed $3 million through congressionally directed appropriations and the City of Springfield and Greene County each invested $750,000 with ARPA funding.
