New class fills need for mechanics
Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 02/01) - By all accounts geophysicist and pilot Dirk Moraal picked right when he decided two years ago to switch from searching for gold, to being an airplane mechanic.
Those involved with aviation describe a continental shortage of aircraft maintenance engineers by using words like "desperate" and "critical."
"I wanted stable employment in a growth industry," said Moraal, who moved to Yellowknife from the Yukon to train with 10 other aircraft maintenance students at the Buffalo School of Aviation. He was among the first class to graduate from a Northern course that qualifies graduates to keep planes mechanically safe.
At Monday's graduation ceremony at the legislature, graduates were told that aircraft will continue to be the heartbeat of Northern development.
The 11 graduates have already lined up two-year apprenticeships with airlines.
It's that kind of need that Buffalo Aviation owner Joe McBryan recognized when he went to the territorial government to "share the dream" and ante up $425,000 to get the school started.
Northern Lights College helped the school get off the ground before Transport Canada allowed it to be taken over by the new Buffalo School of Aviation.
"My oldest son had to go south to train as a maintenance engineer, but my 18-year-old will go to the school here," said McBryan.
"We had a lot of experience to pass on and a lot of facilities to use."
School principal Frank Karain said it's important to raise the level of understanding how important engineers are to the aircraft industry.
Someday, aircraft maintenance engineers will be "on the same par" as pilots, Karain told the graduation ceremony April 30, inside the legislature building.
"When you arrive at your destination, as the jet winds down the stewardess will say, 'Let's thank the maintenance engineers.'"
So far, 75 people have applied for Buffalo's next course. About 10 will get spots in the program.
