Dignitaries speaking before they broke ground on Pensacola State College’s latest construction project Monday morning had to frequently pause or risk being drowned out by the roar of nearby commercial jets.
Hey, what do you expect when you build a college building on airport property? Pensacola State College officials expect a great deal and believe the partnership will bring great things for both their students and the local workforce.
PSC President Ed Meadows led a groundbreaking ceremony for the college’s 34,000-square-foot Aviation Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics Program facility at the northern end of Pensacola International Airport property and just behind the new ST Engineering hangar construction currently taking skeletal shape.
The program’s first cohort of students began the 18-month FAA-aligned certification program in January 2025 and is temporarily operating at an ST Engineering hangar at Pensacola International Airport.
“The development and expansion of aviation maintenance is a big part of what’s happening in the aviation world in Northwest Florida,” Meadows said. “With ST Engineering expanding, Leonardo Helicopters of Santa Rosa County and with many other local aviation maintenance businesses, we’ve been asked to meet that need by offering the Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics program. This is a tremendous opportunity for the college to step forward to meet this growing industry need.”
The facility will cost an estimated $16 million, with additional costs following for equipment and scholarships. At Monday’s ceremony, ST Engineering President of Commercial Aerospace Jeffrey Lam and ST Engineering Vice President of Operations Bill Hafner presented Meadows with a $100,000 check, to be paid over five years, toward scholarships for the program.
“What I see coming together here is a world-class, top-notch, premiere facility,” Hafner said. “The partnership with our facility and the growth we’re experience here, and the number of jobs that come in the community, and the fact that we can train these students to come work with us, and others as we have competition, I think it’s going to be great. It’s a wonderful thing.”
PSC’s Aviation Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics program instructs students to inspect, service and repair and overhaul various aircraft powerplant systems and components. Funding for the new facility is from numerous sources, including the Florida Department of Commerce, Triumph Gulf Coast, the Santa Rosa County Economic Development, ST Engineering and collaboration with the city of Pensacola and the Pensacola International Airport Authority.
“This program has been many years in the making and is in response to the significant shortage of aircraft mechanics who need to be trained to enter the workforce,” said PSC Dean of Workforce Education Mike Listau. “There are not enough people to go to work in this field.”
According to the most recent data listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for Aircraft and Avionics Equipment mechanics and technicians was $75,400 in 2023, though Jason Mahorn, deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Commerce, said those mechanics and technicians working in the state average closer to $84,000 a year today. He also said Florida has added 12,000 aerospace and aviation jobs since 2022.
Until the new facility is completed − tentative completion is 18 months − PSC students in the program will continue their studies at ST Engineering’s Hangar 1, where they are studying various aspects of aircraft mechanics through classroom, lab and hands-on experience.
In summer 2024, InDyne Corporation donated a complete aircraft to the PSC program, a 1982 Fairchild Merlin IV appraised at $900,000.
Meadows announced at the ceremony that PSC has applied for, and expects to receive, a decommissioned T1 Jayhawk twin-engine jet, as the T1 Jayhawk model was recently retired by the U.S. Air Force.
Retired Navy Capt. Tim Kinsella, who serves as the Pensacola city administrator, noted the long link between Pensacola and flight.
“This is a special moment for me, especially as a former commander of NAS Pensacola and a lifelong aviator” said Kinsella, who served as base commander from March 2019 through January 2022. “To bring a facility like this to Pensacola where there’s such a rich history of aviation − since the very, very first days of aviation − it’s a natural fit for us.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: PSC aviation airframe and powerplant mechanics program breaks ground