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With two instructors passing away and the third one retired, the aviation maintenance technology facility’s opening at Winchester Municipal Airport has been delayed until January 2025 — a year later than the initial target date.

Head instructor Scott Scarborough died on Dec. 7, 2023, and adjunct instructor Jon Foote passed away on June 27. The program’s third teacher, adjunct instructor Bruce Hatch also recently retired.

Jimmy Wright, Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville president, said on July 3 that, despite the staffing losses, TCAT has hired Fred Zummach, an airframe and powerplant mechanic, to head the program and has taken steps to hire two certified pilots — one with experience flying for Federal Express and the other with a military background — to handle the teaching duties.

Wright declined to name the two candidates until the hiring process is completed and their employment status becomes official.

Plans were to have the vocational program accommodate its first students in January 2024, pending Federal Aviation Administration approval.

Foote had said the entire process to start teaching classes hinged on Federal Aviation Administration approval. He added that aviation programs have extremely high standards because of the safety and redundancy requirements to keep aircraft in the air.

Foote said the facility’s equipment has to adhere to those strict standards, and if a hurdle were to surface, the FAA would delay approval. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic had thrown supply schedules off-base.

When Scarborough had passed away, the facility’s opening was delayed until the fall 2024 trimester.

Wright had said that it would take about two trimesters to have all the documents and Federal Aviation Administration approval in place to begin accommodating aviation maintenance technology students this coming autumn.

However, Wright said that with Scarborough’s absence, some of the paperwork being forwarded to the FAA would have to be redrafted to reflect the operational changes without him, and Foote’s passing further delayed opening the facility to students until January 2025.

“It’s devastating for a community like ours to lose two valuable employees,” Wright said, adding that Scarborough and Foote were integral to the TCAT aviation maintenance program.

He added that they will be sorely missed.

Wright said that TCAT is accepting applications for students to begin classes in January 2025. He added that plans are to accommodate 20 students, and the program has received 23 applications thus far.

Wright explained that although there are more applications than open positions at this time, the scenario can change where some who have already applied make other career choices and change their minds about participating in the program.

He said that anyone interested in attending should stop by the Franklin County TCAT campus at 925 Dinah Shore Blvd. in Winchester and apply. He added that selections will be made on a first-come, first-serve basis so filling out the paper work early can increase chances of participating in the program.

Laura Monks, former president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville who was Wright’s predecessor, said recently that it’s the first time in a decade that TCAT has added such a beneficial new technological program to its curriculum.

She said TCAT campuses in Memphis, Nashville and Morristown offer avionics maintenance technology courses, but there was nothing offered for potential students in Southern Middle Tennessee.

Monks said the program being offered in Winchester will fill a void and better serve aviation industries in a corridor that expands from Huntsville to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex and to Oak Ridge.

She added that aviation industries are being developed in the immediate surrounding area, creating job opportunities for students who will graduate from the program.

“It’s great to be able to offer something that will greatly benefit students in the area,” Monks said, adding that, at present, any Franklin Country residents interested in careers in aviation technology have to make the trek to Nashville to study in the field.

Former Winchester Airport Manager Zachary Colescott, who had been involved with the project at the outset, had said local high school students are discovering they don’t have to pursue four-year college degrees to have careers that lead to higher-paying jobs.

He had said the aviation maintenance technology program will be a great benefit to the local students who venture into the high-tech field.

Upon completion of the program, students will be eligible to take the FAA Certification Exam to become licensed airframe and power-plant mechanics who diagnose, adjust, repair and overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

The educational field includes helicopter and aircraft engine specialists.

Through the program, students will be trained to inspect, repair, service and overhaul airframes and power plants in large and small aircraft.

The aviation maintenance facility includes a 22,000-square-foot main building at Winchester Municipal Airport, plus a 1,400-square-foot addition to the hanger section to be used as storage space.

A second building to accommodate the power-plant section is in the planning stages.

The project is an extension of Franklin County’s Tennessee College of Applied Technology, located on Dinah Shore Boulevard in Winchester. It is being funded by a $2 million Tennessee Economic and Community Development grant.