Scott Austin, Director of Aircraft Maintenance - WMU

Published by Tom Thinnes on Thu, May 02, 2013

Scott knew from a young age he wanted to be in the aviation industry. He grew up in Lawrence, Michigan where across the road from his home was a small grass strip. He would watch the small airplane fly in and out of the airstrip and it solidified his future in aviation. Scott graduated from Lawrence High School in 1990 and enrolled at WMU in the College of Engineering into the professional pilot program. Scott was always mechanically inclined and made the move to the professional maintenance program soon after enrolling.

In 1993, Scott interned in the maintenance program at WMU for almost a year. The program’s 18 airplanes consisted of Cessna 150’s, 152’s, 172’s, and Piper Seminoles. Once the internship was complete Scott starting working part time for WMU, he was 1 of 2 floor mechanics for the school. After graduation, Scott did an internship with United Airlines in Indianapolis, Indiana to work with the fleet maintenance of 737’s HMV (heavy maintenance visit). This incredibly large maintenance facility had at least 30 bays for maintenance of 737 and 757 aircraft.  Scott stayed with United for 4-5 months during the internship. Afterwards, he came back to a full time position with WMU.

Scott became a full time floor mechanic for WMU in 1996, again becoming 1 of 2 floor mechanics. As the program grew, and the school moved to Battle Creek in 1998 and eventually became a stand-alone College in 1999, the fleet also grew from 18 aircraft to over 50. Scott’s role moved from floor AMT to lead mechanic in 2000. Over the years, Scott has worked on Cessna, Seminole, Seneca, Mooney Ovation, Extra 300L, Piper SuperCub, Cirrus, and Arrow aircraft. In 2003, Scott became Chief Inspector/Manager of Logistics and Compliance for the program.

In 2009, Scott became the Director of Aircraft Maintenance for the program where he holds the position today. His day to day workload consists of managing the fleet of 38 airplanes, buying and selling airplanes, managing all maintenance staff, being the communication hub to manufacturers for service support, the liaison to the FAA for compliance and regulations, the accountable manager for the FAA certified repair station, a member of the CASRS safety review committee, and being a member of various College committees. Scott works with lead mechanics and other chief inspectors (all of whom have 4 year degrees) to ensure the safety and regulation compliance of the aircraft fleet designated for training of our flight science degree students.

Click here to learn about Scott's most recent accolade!

Scott’s degree from WMU was in Aviation Maintenance Engineering Technology. It was heavy into the engineering side of things which set him up for communicating and working with manufacturers and has helped tremendously in the chief inspector’s role. Scott’s degree from WMU has allowed him to move upward in his career, to take on additional responsibilities and manage a team of professional maintenance technicians.