Graduates of CNM: Stephanie Gill

It’s always fun to watch planes land. Their landing gear deploys and helps these giant flying machines return from the air to the ground. Of course, all that work takes its toll on the gear. In fact, it’s a mandate that planes get their landing gear completely overhauled every 10 years.

And that’s where CNM graduate Stephanie Gill steps in. After getting her degree in Aviation Maintenance, she was hired by AerSale, a national aviation company with a branch in Rio Rancho that is currently under contract to do the overhaul on landing gear for several national and international carriers. 

As an Evaluation and Non-Destructive Testing Technician, Stephanie is part of a team that completely disassembles, inspects, evaluates, overhauls, and reassembles the landing gear for planes including the Boeing 737, 757, and 767. And they do all that in just 90 days.

“It’s been great to join the team here at AerSale,” Stephanie says. “I’ve already learned an enormous amount from the team and it’s been a big boost for my confidence.”

Stephanie came into the job after a successful run at CNM. She was on the Dean’s List several times and thanks to scholarships and funding from the Navajo Nation, where her dad is from, she went to school tuition-free.

She also credits the CNM instructors with fully preparing her to enter the workforce after completing school.

“The Aviation program was not easy, but I had great instructors and I knew that as long as I kept my grades up, everything would work out,” she says.

Dathan Power, the Director of Operations at AerSale’s Rio Rancho facility and an advisory member for the CNM Aviation Maintenance program, says it’s great to see CNM graduates land aviation jobs here in New Mexico. He’s also been excited to see Stephanie develop her career.

“Working on the floor she’s really pushed herself and both her confidence and capabilities have grown,” he says. 

Stephanie is thankful she had a job during the pandemic because her work was deemed essential. But she says it’s been even more important to be at a company that ensures planes can operate safely.

“I grew up with strong grandparents who always told me that I need to be engaged and out there helping people,” she says. “And by working with AerSale, I can fulfill that role.” 

Learn more about CNM's Aviation Technology program here.