Are you in the middle of deciding your career path? How about looking up, way up? If you’re good with technology, and like working with your hands, a career in the aviation industry could be what you need. You want a career that has a future, and a demand for new workers, and aviation can be that, too. At Centennial College, we set you up with the skills you need to succeed at the career you want and get you ready for the next step, through programs like Aviation Technology - Aircraft Maintenance and Management, Aviation Technician - Aircraft Maintenance and Aviation Technology - Avionics Maintenance and Management. These programs teach you to help to build, manage, and repair the machines that put us in the air. Here’s a little bit more about what the world of aviation technology is like.
Putting the birds in the air.
To keep it simple, in these careers, you’re making sure planes can fly. To make it a bit less simple, you’re making sure that aircraft are operating safely by analyzing, repairing and managing their electronic and mechanical systems. You might, for example, run tests and inspect an aircraft to see if they need maintenance, if there’s issues, or anything that could become an issue. Based on that, you take care of the solutions and repairs that make the aircraft safe to fly, and this includes sourcing the parts and supplies you need. To succeed in this career, you need to really know the inner workings of an aircraft, what it needs to fly, and the regulations and safety standards around it.
Why you want to fly.
For one thing, if you enjoy working hands-on and seeing real results from the efforts you put in, this career is for you. On top of that, this is a career with room for you to get hired. Canada’s a big country, and home to a lot of aerospace companies. How many airplanes can we build in a year? Enough of them to support 212,000 jobs that bring $27 billion to the economy, according to the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada. In fact, just last year, Canada’s Minister of Science and Innovation announced a $350 Million investment in green aviation and sustainable aerospace technology (read more about it here), so it’s an industry that’s only going to keep growing. Aviation’s importance to the economy means there’s a shortage of aviation personnel, and a good outlook for jobs, if you’re new, educated talent. And that’s where we come in.
We’ll chart your flight path.
You need two things to get an aviation career: A lot of practical experience, and industry connections. In Centennial College’s aviation programs, we do more than just teach you. We show you, through classes at the Downsview Campus, where there’s a big hangar full of a fleet of aircraft for you to work on, including modern, cutting-edge airplanes, giving you practical, up-to-date skills. We’ve been teaching these programs for over 40 years, so we’re staffed with veteran industry instructors, ready to pass their experience to you, and show you the way to be hired as soon as you graduate. Speaking of what you’re learning, Centennial College has partnerships with aviation companies for you to take part in internships and co-op placements while you’re in school, and career opportunities after graduation, meaning you get to move beyond the campus and practice your skills in the real world. On top of that, our aviation programs are accredited by Transport Canada, which means that when you graduate, you’ll meet requirements to obtain a Canadian Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) license.
We’ve been a leader in aviation for more than 40 years, but we also continue to advance ourselves, and programs like these at our Downsview Campus are not yet commonly available outside Canada. We can’t wait to see the next generation of Aerospace and Aviation experts succeed, and if you join us, that could be you!
Written By: Anthony Geremia