Impact of AAR’s Departure Being Felt By City of Duluth, LSC

DULUTH, Minn.– AAR has confirmed it will be discontinuing operations in Duluth. This means more than 250 employees will be losing their jobs.

It will also hurt trade schools such as Lake Superior College that partner with the company to train students to be aircraft technicians.

“We knew they were struggling but it was pretty devastating to hear that they’ll be closing their doors permanently,” said Daniel Fanning, VP of External Relations at LSC.

AAR officially announced the closure today. All 269 affected employees will be offered severance packages and medical coverage paid for by the company through July.

In a statement, AAR blamed, “Unforeseen business circumstances related to COVID-19 and its impact on the commercial airline industry” for the shutdown. Operations will be permanently discontinued as of July 24th.

Duluth Mayor Emily Larson also gave written comments on the situation, saying, in part “As we adjust to our new financial realities, we are all forced to make decisions that are incredibly difficult.”

AAR leaving Duluth came as a shock to those at Lake Superior College. The school has more than 75 students enrolled in their aviation technician program. A program added in the last decade largely because of AAR’s presence.

AAR’s departure increases the chances of those students going outside the area to find jobs once they complete their degrees.

“A lot of our students would go on to at least internship, if not go on to work there at AAR.” said Fanning. “Frankly it’s one of the reasons we started the aviation maintenance technician program here in Duluth at Lake Superior College was knowing that AAR was coming here.”

LSC is hopeful the demand for workers in these programs will increase once the pandemic is over.

“The reality is there’s still going to be a growing workforce need for mechanics and for pilots,” said Fanning. “We just don’t know exactly when that’s going to pick back up.”

Lake Superior College says they hope to make new partnerships with the other companies at the airport.