Area Workforce Take Flight with AerSale, ENMU-R

Companies or industries most successful in filling their workforce openings must often educate potential recruits from a point of familiarity to an aspect of their operations. In the aviation industry, that awareness begins with automobiles. 

“The basic functionality is the same between aviation and automotive, just on a larger scale.  A diesel engine is a diesel engine, and an A/C system is an A/C system,” said Amy Butler, General Manager at the AerSale Roswell Aircraft MRO Operations Center. “While we may not be traveling to the moon or through wormholes yet, there is definite opportunity for a high-paying, rewarding career as an aviation mechanic.” 

AerSale Roswell specializes in specialized aircraft heavy maintenance, modification, and disassembly operations at its over 100,000 square feet hangar space at the Roswell Air Center. MRO stands for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, often associated with the “heavy checks” of customized aircraft heavy maintenance and advanced airframe modification services. AerSale is one of the few aircraft MRO organizations with the technical qualifications and operational resources to hold Federal Aviation Administration “unlimited” repair station ratings for airframe and component MRO operations.

AerSale® is a global leader and market innovator specializing in aviation products and services to meet the growing demand for aftermarket support in global passenger, cargo, and government segments.

Maintenance, modifications and storage

Roswell is an excellent location for the MRO tasks and storage of planes and parts for customers in both the freight and passenger plane business. The dry, high desert climate is perfectly suited for long-term aircraft storage because the low humidity helps limit the corrosion of parts. 

In addition to the MRO, AerSale Roswell has enough storage capacity for approximately 500 aircraft on paved surfaces and facilities to dismantle planes and house the millions of parts it will sell aftermarket. While an April fire at a storage facility was significant enough to melt engine cases to the ground, employees there were absorbed into MRO and kept their livelihood.

“We are very aware of the economic impact our 100-plus employees and contractors have on the community by staying at hotels or rental units, buying groceries and eating at restaurants,” said Butler.

University collaboration

AerSale Roswell has a significant advantage in its search for a qualified workforce, with Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell (ENMU-Roswell) only about a mile from its site. The school’s Aviation Maintenance Technology program is the only FAA Part 147 Airframe and Powerplant school in Southeast New Mexico. The two-year program allows students to obtain a certificate acknowledging eligibility for FAA testing to achieve an Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic (A&P) License. The A&P License allows an individual to work as an aviation maintenance technician or mechanic, performing aviation maintenance and repair activities.

AerSale works with ENMU, hiring students part-time to get hands-on experience while pursuing their license in school. An AerSale scholarship program, in conjunction with ENMU, will pay a portion of a student’s tuition and tools in exchange for a two-year employment commitment at AerSale if a career opportunity exists when they complete the program. The program benefits AerSale, the school, the region and the individual. Finding interested individuals often begins with those familiar with automotive maintenance. 

“We want to educate young people about careers as an aviation mechanic and on the fact that after just two years at the university, there will be high-paying jobs available right here where they live,” said Butler. “As an automotive mechanic, you may be limited to dealerships or local auto shops, while, with an FAA A&P License, an aviation mechanic can go anywhere in the world.”

Training award

AerSale Roswell received a New Mexico Economic Development Department Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP) Award in late 2023 that allowed them to recoup some of the cost of training for approximately 40 employees. The award is designed to reimburse some hiring costs for companies bringing high-tech, high-paying careers to communities. The training is critical to the aviation industry, said Butler.

“Planes are not like cars; you can’t pull over on the next cloud to fix a problem, so maintenance has to be done right the first time,” she said. “We instill in our employees that if they are unwilling to put their own family on a plane they worked on, it was not done correctly.”

Continued economic impact

Butler said AerSale’s plans in Roswell include a desire to continually increase their heavy check operations, as well as a potential construction of a blast fence to expand high-power engine runs.

“Chaves County offers an excellent location, with a small town living in a big city environment, for AerSale to be successful,” she said. “Continued collaboration with area entities like New Mexico Workforce Connection and the Roswell-Chaves County Economic Development Corporation on job fairs and other community events will assist our ongoing success.”

To learn more about AerSale Roswell and other businesses thriving in Roswell and Chaves County, contact us today.