This multi-million dollar facility with over 10,000 sq ft hanger space, with a 1 ton lift on a track, a 10,000 sq ft turbine/ recip engine room with a 1 ton lift, 2 state of the art jet engine test cells numerous class rooms dedicated to maintenance and testing of everything from props to avionics to sheet metal to composites to NDT ... you name it WLACAM has dedicated facilities for aviation maintenance. This is considered by many to be one of the best A&P school facilities in the nation. Due to the location of the school it is not known by many in the Los Angeles aviation & aerospace industry. This FAR part 137 educational facility could be a place for industry to use for research and development ;the Jet engine test cells in and of themselves are of extreme value and presently underutilized by the local aviation and aerospace industry.This facility could keep high quality high paying aviation jobs in Los Angeles. Thereby increasing the economic vitality of Los Angeles with its rich aviation and aerospace history.
There is a high demand by the aviation and aerospace industry in the coming years for A&P mechanics this facility needs to be not only saved but strongly supported and brought back up to its great potential. The facility has not had upkeep since 9/11 and some of the equipment is dated. But with not much money and lot of support it could be once again one of Los Angeles feeder schools for the aviation industry. Enrollment would increase also if enough classes were offered through out the year.
For the past year the administration has squeezed the students of the A&P department with lack of course options. Students that are attending now are finding less class options to finish all the disciplines in a timely manner. What was a 18 month program can now take over 3 years to complete. Due to this enrollment has declined. The administration is claiming lack of enrollment as a reason for not supporting the program ,at the same time making it very difficult for students to complete the courses straight through with out a break.
To run an effective program the school needs to run between 2 and 3 courses per semester both at night and in the morning. As well as have classes run continuously through out the year. if this is not done the enrollment will decline steadily. It is important to offer both day and evening classes due to the 24 hour work schedule of most of aviation industry. If the day classes are cut those that work the night shift will be left out of the loop. If there are not enough course options the whole program will quickly die out.
There are twelve disciplines that need to be completed for the aviation maintenance certificate. The further along a student proceeds the less options that they have to take a particular course. If not enough classes run a student could be left out for 2 or three semesters before one of the courses that he or she has left to complete comes up.
Originally there were 3 courses per semester that ran in sequence therefore one could be assured that they would be able to finish in at least 2 years. This also gave the student with out a work commitment could complete all the disciplines in 1 year.
From 9/11 until now the aviation industry has done an 180 degree turn around. What was an industry in the doldrums 7 years ago is now a robust and vibrant industry that is world wide in scope and . Due to its location and the fact that most people are not aware of this world class facility ; A Marketing strategy aimed at the local aviation and aerospace industry and other career building programs needs to be instituted that would take advantage of its great potential.
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