Travis Collins, 36, is Maintenance Manager at Fargo Jet Center. In his current role he manages the maintenance department which includes avionics and aircraft detailing. Hie is directly responsible for developing and maintaining working relationships with customers, including the charter department (he is the director of maintenance), flight school, and the weather modification aircraft fleet. Between Fargo Jet Center's ever growing customer base and company aircraft, it services a little over 300 aircraft per year.
Collins has been mechanically inclined from a young age and always liked fixing things. To him the aviation industry is the gateway that lets him use those skills anywhere in the world.
He received his A&P training at Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, SD. He has taken FlightSafety King Air 300 Series, Cessna Citation CJ4, and Pilatus PC-12 Factory Training; Cirrus Perspective by Garmin Service Center Training; Essentials in Leadership Training (NDSCS – Fargo); and achieved his Inspection Authorization rating in 2006. He is a NBAA member and attends both the Annual North Dakota and Minnesota Aviation Maintenance Conferences. He attended the Textron Aviation Customer Conference and Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association (POPA) conference in 2016.
He has received multiple FAA AMT awards (Silver and Bronze) and an NBAA Three-Year Maintenance Safety Award in 2014.
Rod Brekken, aircraft maintenance training coordinator at Fargo Jet Center, says, "Mr. Collins has committed himself to outstanding management of the 30+ technicians at our facility. He is committed to awareness and application of changing industry standards and trends, safety in the workplace applications, and encourages AMT training for the betterment of service to our customers. This commitment to training has lead to national training awards from NATA and the FAA."
Fargo Jet Center has developed a summer maintenance internship program with two technical schools in the area. Collins likes to pick at least one intern from each school every year. "In the last few years we have had good luck with the internships turning into full-time employment. I give local high school students that will be going to college in an aviation field a summer job helping detail aircraft, to give them early exposure to aviation life. These are opportunities that didn’t exist when I was in school so I like to give back where I can."
Collins' goal is to be someone that is highly renowned in the aviation career field, by continuing to exceed expectations and drive growth in the aviation industry.
