“This is really a big deal,” said Tulsa Tech CEO and President Steve Tiger. “The aerospace industry has grown by leaps and bounds.”

Tiger made the remarks along with other officials last week during an announcement of the new partnership at Tulsa Tech’s Riverside Campus at Tulsa Riverside Airport, located just east of the Arkansas River and north of 91st Street on the border of the cities of Tulsa and Jenks in the area.

He and Greg Emerson, American Airlines vice president of base maintenance, signed an agreement at the event, which will allow expansion of Tulsa Tech’s aviation program.

About 200 students per year are enrolled to earn their aviation maintenance technician certification through the program; the agreement will lead to growth in that figure, Tiger said.

The partnership will include job-shadowing opportunities and additional aircraft equipment with which students can learn by working hands-on, officials said.

“It’s an exciting day for the students at Tulsa Tech and for us at American,” Emerson said.

He said many in the aircraft maintenance industry, like himself, joined it in the 1980s and early 1990s, often replacing retiring technicians from the World War II and Vietnam War eras.

A similar transition is happening today, he said, with an estimated global need of 628,000 aircraft maintenance technicians by 2040, including 126,000 who will be needed in the U.S.

“At American, our charge of delivering aircraft to the airline safely, reliably and consistently starts with our team members,” Emerson said.

“Our tech-ops team members are the behind-the-scenes heroes. Whether our customers are aware of it or not, they are counting on the expertise and the diligence of our maintenance technicians to keep them flying the sky safely.”

American has a fleet of more than 950 aircraft, and much of the maintenance is done at its Tulsa Tech-Ops facility at Tulsa International Airport, the largest aircraft maintenance facility in the world.

The airline has about 18,000 employees worldwide, and its Tulsa maintenance facility, which employs about 5,000, is one of Tulsa’s largest employers.

“We know that attracting the best of the best now will build for a better airline for our customers and team members in the future,” Emerson said.

“I may be partial, but I don’t think there’s any place better for your career than at American Airlines,” he said.

Equipment that American is donating for students to use will include an auxiliary power unit, flow control valves and a flight guidance computer, he said.

“These parts will provide relevant, real-world experience to help you better understand how these systems work,” he said.

Among those attending last week’s event were several Tulsa Tech aviation students.

Taylor Papke, a Tulsa Tech student from Broken Arrow, has about a year left in the aviation program and plans to work in avionics, perhaps for American.

“My uncle works at American Airlines, and he got his AMT (aviation maintenance technician) license. He said, ‘This is a great career. You should look into it,’ so that kind of sparked something in me.”

Emerson said those with AMT certification can start at American with salaries of $60,000. That figure could grow to triple digits within a few years, depending on seniority and experience, he said.

Tulsa Tech’s Riverside Campus includes an indoor aircraft hanger with an American Airlines’ McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jet, donated by the company to the campus in 2011, where last week’s announcement was held.

“My charge to the students who walk through the halls of this great campus: Never stop learning, because this industry won’t allow you to,” Emerson said.

“Every time you think you know enough, there’s a new fleet type, there’s a new system, there’s a new maintenance manual change that you have to learn, and then, most importantly, this is an extremely challenging environment, and we want everyone to make sure they maintain safety.”