American Airlines, Tulsa Tech Launch MRO Workforce Partnership

American Airlines MRO facility in Tulsa

American has a large base maintenance facility in Tulsa.

Credit: American Airlines

In support of a major hiring push in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home to its largest maintenance base, American Airlines has partnered with Tulsa Tech to develop an MRO workforce pipeline.

During a July 11 ceremony at Tulsa Tech’s Riverside campus, American announced a formal partnership with the school. Students will have direct access to American’s more than 3,200 Tulsa-based aviation maintenance technicians through a variety of engagement opportunities on campus and in the hangar, including quarterly visits to the Tulsa base, “day in the life” conversations with Tech Ops team members, career fairs, resume reviews, and interview preparation and coaching.

American says top-performing students will receive guaranteed interviews for open positions at the airline. It has hired more than 150 Tulsa Tech alumni since 2018, and several of its Tulsa Tech Ops staff are also instructors at the school.

American is adding more than 300 new Tech Ops jobs in Tulsa as part of a recent $22 million grant from the state government. It is hiring for positions such as airframe and powerplant mechanics, engineers, machinists, welders and maintenance planners.

At the partnership announcement ceremony, American also donated several aircraft parts to Tulsa Tech, including an auxiliary power unit, four oxygen generators, a digital flight computer and a flow control valve.

Prior to the formal partnership, American previously donated a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 to Tulsa Tech in 2011 and has mentored the school’s Aerospace Maintenance Competition teams. At this year’s competition, Tulsa Tech’s team was the first-place school in three events and won United’s John Goglia Competing with Professionalism Award. American’s Team Tulsa won first place in the MRO/OEM category, second place overall and placed first in three events.

Lindsay Bjerregaard

Lindsay Bjerregaard is managing editor for Aviation Week’s MRO portfolio. Her coverage focuses on MRO technology, workforce, and product and service news for AviationWeek.com, Aviation Week Marketplace and Inside MRO.