The 2026 AMC Competition was the largest ever. Photo courtesy AMC.

On April 23, the 2026 Aerospace Maintenance Council Competition hosted on the exhibit floor of Aviation Week’s MRO Americas wrapped. Five-member teams from schools, industry, and the military competed in maintenance events intended to test skill and knowledge required of an aviation technician. Though the official reason for each team to gather in Orlando was technical performance, the event is a showcase for the skill and comradery inherit in aerospace maintenance work – a celebration of the industry’s past, present, and future.

The 2026 ARSA-sponsored event was AMC’s largest ever, with 87 teams competing across 29 maintenance task-based challenges. Next year will bring further growth: The Competition will spread internationally for the first time with an appearance at MRO Asia-Pacific 2027 in Singapore. For a complete wrap of this year’s event at MRO Americas including photos and resources for getting involved, click here to go to the Competition website.

Competition Awards

Top Overall: Team 48 FedEx Express – Team MEM

Paul Cousins Award (top international team): Team 84 Air Canada – Team 2

Category Awards

General Aviation Category
•    First Place: Team 71 Aircraft Engineers International
•    Second Place: Team 55 Victory Lane Aviation
•    Third Place: Team 69 Textron Aviation – Orlando

Military Category
•    First Place: Team 67 United States Army – 128th Aviation Brigade – Team Chinook
•    Second Place: Team 66 United States Army – 128th Aviation Brigade – Team Blackhawk
•    Third Place: Team 82 United States Air Force – 4th MXG

An AMC Competition competitor participates in the Transparencies event provided by ARSA Member PPG Aerospace. Photo courtesy AMC.

MRO/OEM Category
•    First Place: Team 48 FedEx Express -Team MEM
•    Second Place: Team 75 Southwest Airlines – Team Colleen
•    Third Place: Team 76 American Airlines – Team Base

Commercial Category
•    First Place: Team 72 FedEx Express -Team Indy
•    Second Place: Team 63 Southwest Airlines – Team Herb
•    Third Place: Team 78 United Airlines – Line

School Category
•    First Place: Team 9 Tulsa Tech – Adult Students
•    Second Place: Team 14 Universal Technical Institute – Houston
•    Third Place: Team 47 Tarrant County College

Professionalism Awards

United’s John Goglia Competing with Professionalism Award (cash awards, determined by judge vote):
•    First Place: Team 86 Embry Riddle – Team 1 
•    Second Place: Team 7 Chennault Aviation Maintenance Academy

AMC Peer Team Award (determined by team vote): Team 11: Centennial College – Team 1

AireXpert Dream Team Award (determined by online vote): Team 9: Tulsa Tech – Adult Students

AMC Professionalism Award (determined by judge vote)
•    Professional: Tiffany Gray, US Army – Team Chinook
•    Student: Jeremy Janes, Chennault Aviation Maintenance Academy

Industry Scholarships

Test grants provided by Northrop Rice Foundation ($350):
•    Callum Richman, AIM Phoenix
•    Alexander Ruger, UTI Houston
•    Shelby Nelson, Lane Community College
•    Lei Huot, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Phoebe Omlie Scholarships

(more information on the award here)

Provided by AMC ($1,000): Barbara Rivas Quezada, San Bernardino Valley College

Provided by AA ($2,500 ea):
•    Samantha Tijerina, Chennault Aviation Maintenance Academy
•    Jeremy Lynch, Vaughn College
•    Jacqueline Wilson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
•    Andrew Cornell, Chennault Aviation Maintenance Academy

Provided by TechForce Foundation ($2,000): Clarissa Sanchez, Charlotte Technical College

Provided by Chix Fix ($1,250): Eliza DeBry, Idaho State University

Provided by Aviation Workforce Solutions ($2,000): Trevor Hill, Liberty University

Provided by Jsfirm.org ($1,500): Ivan Moon, Eastern New Mexico University

Provided by GE Aerospace ($2,000): Austin Parrish, Florida State College at Jacksonville

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