2022 AMT 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professionals: Mitch Lutze-Morris, Chief Inspector and Quality Manager, Blackhawk Aerospace Technologies, Inc.
Mitch Lutze-Morris got into aviation on a whim, he said, having never seen nor flown on an airplane, outside of one time skydiving, before.
“I was working as a bank teller for a number of years and was trying to find jobs that would have a high rate of employment at the time, back in 2013. I saw that employment rates were supposed to go up for aviation mechanics, specifically, by about 10 to 15% within the next five years due to a retirements and things of that nature. So that’s kind of what got me into it,” he said.
He then graduated from college and went to work for Columbia Avionics and Aircraft Services, later bought by Blackhawk Aerospace Technologies, and hasn’t left.
“I’ve got my A&P, IA, AET, the FCC GROL, repairman certificate for radios & instruments. And I’m currently the chief inspector of the repair station as well as the quality manager of our PMA department,” he said.
Lutze-Morris said he mostly works on the business and corporate side of aircraft, working on many King Airs and Citation jets.
“It’s kind of nice talking to the owners and hearing about them, learning what they do for a living and what their background is and stuff like that. Because you meet a lot of really interesting people that way, and it’s nice seeing the various aspects of where people come from that own these planes,” he said.
Having worked in numerous different industries and held many different careers, Lutze-Morris said working in aviation has a return on investment greater than any other, and as such, he spends a good deal of time learning about the industry and trying to better himself professionally.
“The biggest thing that I tell a lot of the students that come in from the college nearby is anything and everything that you put into the industry, you get back a hundred percent. I spend a lot of my free time reading various advisory circulars, reading various magazines and textbooks and stuff like that. Just trying to learn as much as I can about the industry. And, speaking for myself, I’ve seen a lot of return on that time invested and it’s definitely paid off,” he said.
