Fargo Jet Center (FJC), located at Hector International Airport (KFAR) in Fargo, North Dakota, has earned the 2022 FAA Diamond Award of Excellence for a twelfth year. The award recognises the FAA's highest distinction for aviation maintenance training.

“Earning the Diamond Award of Excellence is an exceptional accomplishment our team takes a lot of pride in,” says Mike Clancy, VP of technical services. “Twelve years of earning this award is a representation of our technicians' dedication to continuously improving their workmanship and expertise.”

FJC's maintenance technicians play an essential role in earning the Diamond Award of Excellence as 100 percent of technicians must first individually earn an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) Award. There are three levels of awards AMTs can earn depending on the number of eligible aviation maintenance training hours they complete - Bronze: 12 hours of training; Silver: 40 hours of training; and Gold: 80 hours of training plus the completion of a college-level course of three credit hours or 40 classroom hours in a career-related subject.

“This year, 31 AMTs completed a combined 954 hours of FAA-approved training,” says Alec Bjerke, FJC AMT and recipient of the Gold Certificate of Training. “This specialised training allows us to enhance our knowledge of the aircraft we maintain while investing in our professional growth. I am appreciative that Fargo Jet Center takes a proactive role to promote both reoccurring and factory training.”

FJC is an FAA-approved Part 145 repair station and serves as an authorised service centre for Textron, Kodiak and Cirrus, and as an authorised satellite service centre for Pilatus. FJC also specialises in aircraft special mission modifications and conversions.

The FAA awards were presented at FJC by Jeffry Boe, FAA safety team programme manager, on March 22, 2023.