Today (October 21), the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) marks a significant milestone in its aviation training legacy, celebrating decades of excellence since its small beginnings in 1928, with an initial cohort of only eight students. SAIT continues to shape the future of aviation in Alberta and offers four programs focused on aircraft maintenance and structures, avionics and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) at the Art Smith Aero Centre.
SAIT's aviation training wouldn't look as it does today without the vision and commitment of the aero centre's namesake Art Smith a native Calgarian and prominent figure in Canadian aviation history.
Located on land connected to Taxiway "N" at the Calgary International Airport, the centre occupies 13 acres and includes state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, as well as a 21,000 square foot hangar. Designed to operate at industry and SAIT standards, the facility provides exceptional classroom learning and hands-on training.
"The need for aviation professionals has tripled in the last 20 years and I don't see a slowdown any time soon," says Lynda Holden, Dean, School of Transportation, SAIT. "I used to see workforce demand ebb and flow and I don't see that anymore. Instead, I'm seeing a continual increase in demand for aviation and aerospace talent."
Calgary Economic Development has identified aerospace as an area for significant growth in Alberta, with one of the country's busiest airports and headquarters for two of Canada's major airlines in Calgary. Alberta's aerospace and defense sector currently generates $3.25 billion to provincial GDP and the growing aerospace and defence sector was projected to spend $54 million on digital transformation by 2024.
"Global demand for commercial transportation and the aerospace and defence sector is on the rise. Underdeveloped and emerging markets are seeing growth in the middle class, which results in a higher standard of living and a desire to travel by air," says Holden.
SAIT continues to adapt and meet the needs of industry to ensure a pipeline of highly skilled aviation professionals.
"We have a world-class facility with an extremely capable and experienced faculty. The more the world talks about aviation, the more we realize the demand for a skilled workforce," says Holden. "Those emerging markets may not have the infrastructure to provide high quality training, and we want them to look to SAIT as the standard. We want to work with partners around the globe to help other countries grow their aviation workforce."
With the launch of a Professional Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems certificate in 2023, the centre works closely with SAIT's Centre for Innovation and Research in Unmanned Systems (CIRUS) to fill the demand for heavy-lift drone pilots and technicians, and further research and development for RPAS heavy-lift and beyond-visual-line-of-sight application. Initially available with one intake, the program quickly moved to two and continues to be full with a waitlist at every intake.
