Sofian Rajah, an employee at Textron Aviation’s Düsseldorf Service Center, was recently named Best Aircraft Mechanic Apprentice in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Rajah was honoured, at a special ceremony, by the state president of the Chamber of Commerce for his outstanding marks during his apprenticeship programme.
According to Martin Jäger, training manager at the service centre, creating a successful apprenticeship is a team job. “In Germany there’s a saying: ‘You need a whole village to raise kids’. If you replace the word kids with apprentices, it is a good description of Textron Aviation’s apprenticeship programme.”
“It depends on the trainee’s willingness to learn, the team in the hangar giving special aircraft type knowledge, a good work environment and a supportive instructor,” Jäger added.
Rajah joined the Textron Aviation apprenticeship programme in July 2019, and his ability to provide best-in-class maintenance and customer support led to a permanent role with the company in July 2022.
“Working at Textron Aviation allows me to learn something new every day, building my expertise on the wide variety of aircraft types we service,” said Rajah. “The team is also really supportive and there are many training opportunities within the company. I am looking forward to the future and hope I can make a significant contribution here.”
Rajah’s apprenticeship included a mix of theoretical and practical training. He learned about composite materials, aircraft systems and assembling and disassembling aircraft parts, all while preparing for the intensive exam.
Textron Aviation said the broad experience provided at the Düsseldorf Service Center has generated an excellent track record when it comes to developing apprentices. A Textron Aviation trainee has won the best-in-state award on average every other year over the past 10 years.
“Sofian is a deserving award winner. He knew his goal right from the start and was clear about how to reach it,” said Jäger. “Sofian joined us possessing many of the key skills an aircraft mechanic requires, which made my job as a trainer much easier. It was a case of providing a bit of support and he was more than ready to successfully complete his exams. I’m proud that Sofian has become yet another of our apprentices to be recognised as the very best in our state.”
