LIAT and Antigua State College sign MOU for engineering technician programme

Chief Executive Officer David Evans, from LIAT, the Caribbean Airline, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Antigua State College (ASC) for an Engineering Technician Training Programme in Aircraft Maintenance. Other industry partners in the new programme, which commenced in September 2014, are Antigua-based Caribbean Helicopters; the College of the North Atlantic and the Marine Institute of Memorial University, both based in Newfoundland, Canada. There are 26 apprentices enrolled in the programme and the ASC anticipates a maximum of 15 new entrants every two years. Mr. Evans explained that a major component of the three-year programme will be on-the-job training and students will come to LIAT for the practical hands-on training, while the theoretical aspects of the study will be done at ASC. Engineers from LIAT’s Engineering and Maintenance Department will also serve as tutors for the programme. The students will be provided on-the-job training during the second year of the programme, followed by a one-year internship at LIAT. The LIAT CEO said the programme came about as a result of a need to have a pool of skilled aircraft mechanics and engineers to support the airline’s Maintenance and Engineering Department, adding that there is a very high demand, in the Caribbean and elsewhere, for qualified people with aircraft maintenance skills. At the end of the training, students will be equipped to take their License Without Type Rating (LWTR) examination administered by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA), and will also be qualified to work as Aircraft Maintenance Technicians, not only in Antigua and Barbuda but all over the world. LIAT will have the first option of employing the best and brightest of the graduates.