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Saudia Technic has sent 40 young men and women to the U.S. to jump-start their careers in aviation maintenance through a new partnership with Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology.
The initiative aims to address the future workforce element of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, which will invest billions in the country’s aviation ecosystem as part of broader plans to modernize the economy and attract visitors.
Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology has trained Saudi students for many years as part of its international student programs, but this new development is part of an agreement from April 2025 that leverages the Saudi Ministry of Education’s Wa’ed Scholarship Program, which enables Saudi students to study abroad. The students are training at Spartan’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, campus under the school’s FAA Part 147 Aviation Maintenance Technology (AMT) program.
Spartan worked with Saudia Technic’s Supervisor of Learning and Development to create the training pathway. During the 23-month program, the students will have the opportunity to earn FAA airframe and powerplant (A&P) certification, as well as FAA Part 107 UAV certification and Federal Communications Commission licenses for radio operations, licensing and ship radar techniques.
“This significant investment in our young talent is a key step in our strategy to build the most capable and technologically advanced maintenance workforce in the region,” says Thamer Filimban, head of learning and development at Saudia Technic. “These 40 future leaders will be the engine driving Saudia Technic’s expansion.”
Saudia Technic welcomed its first cohort of female trainees to its “Future Technic” AMT program in 2024, and the company has signed several training-focused memoranda of understanding in recent years with schools in Saudi Arabia, including Effat University, Princess Nourah University, the University of Business and Technology and the University of Jeddah.
According to a representative for Spartan, the school has prepared resources to help the students acclimate to living in Tulsa, such as prayer rooms and an orientation program that addresses factors such as Halal food, bank accounts and healthcare. The school notes that it has a “long history of training students from around the world both here and abroad,” including from countries such as China and Korea.
International AMT training partnerships are gaining traction as companies seek to build next-generation workforce pipelines and some countries aim to boost technical opportunities for young people. For instance, Korea Aerospace University partnered with U.S. Aviation Academy last year to launch a training course that allows its students to spend six months training for FAA A&P skills in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Abu Dhabi-based engine MRO Sanad has a 12-month Future Leadership Program that sends students to business schools in Europe. French MRO Vallair has created bilateral student exchange and collaborative training programs in Cameroon.
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