Sereno Aviation emerged as the result of realizing the need for more AMPs and recognizing the opportunity to provide training and mentorship for men and women who are already automotive mechanics as they pursue an AMP certification.
Our Mission
Using donated and purchased aircraft as training ground, we mentor a new set of individuals ready to progress from automotive mechanic to aircraft mechanic professional providing new career paths for young tradesmen and -women in the New Mexico and greater Southwest area.
Our Vision
To provide mentoring and training opportunities for automotive professionals seeking aircraft mechanic professional (AMP) certifications.
Our Board of Directors
Steve Snapp
Kathleen McDonald
Mike Snapp
Kathleen McDonald is the Customer Success Manager for CloudArc, a SaaS company. Kathleen has had a passion for training and mentorship since she began her professional career in the late 1990s when she began working at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her appreciation for the time of talented mentors who helped her progress and develop throughout her career translates into her desire to help other young men and women seeking to acquire new skills and abilities. The opportunity to help young mechanics in Northern New Mexico obtain a new, specialized set of expertise, in a high demand market like aviation, resonated with her as a place where her time and effort could have meaningful impact.
Steve Snapp is a small business owner and aviation enthusiast with over 20 years of flying experience on a wide range of aircraft. As a pilot in Northern New Mexico, he realized the challenge of finding quality aviation mechanic professionals. He also noticed the opportunity to provide mentorship and training opportunities for young men and women who are already automotive mechanics but want to step into the aviation field. It is then that he began to develop the concept of Sereno Aviation.
Steve’s passion for aviation led him to create Sereno Aviation, a non-profit organization to help young men and women acquire aircraft mechanic experience and training and develop a vocational skill that is in high demand and will generate unique career paths for these men and women. Through this non-profit, Steve hopes to provide skills and training needed to succeed in the aviation industry and build a brighter future for its participants.. Steve is committed to making a difference in the lives of young men and women and helping them to develop the skills they need to be successful in the workforce.
Michael Snapp is a highly experienced corporate pilot with over 9000 hours of flight time. He is currently employed flying a Challenger 350 and has also flown a Gulfstream IV and C-9 and C-5 during his time in the military. In addition to his extensive flying experience, Michael is also a certified instructor (CFI) and holds additional certifications as a CFII, MEI, and MEII. He has been flying general aviation airplanes since the 1980s and owns his own RV6, which he frequently flies with his wife. Michael has been invited to join the board of Soreno Aviation, a non-profit agency that helps individuals become certified airframe and powerplant mechanics, bringing his extensive aviation knowledge and experience to their mission.
Our Team
Josh Sandoval
A key member of our team, Josh Sandoval, has been an AMP since 2009 and is also a veteran of the US Air Force where he first began “wrenching” on planes. Josh covers a lot of territory supporting general aviation throughout Northern New Mexico as an AMP. He and Steve Snapp first began talking about the opportunity to assist young mechanics in the area in 2021. The question remained: from where would the aircraft come on which Josh could mentor young mechanics? As pilots active in the general aviation community, Mike and Steve Snapp had come across many aircraft for sale or even those for which the owners would donate planes because they or their family members could no longer fly them. Hence the idea of Sereno Aviation emerged. Sereno gives mentoring and hands-on training opportunities to young mechanics. At the end of the process, there are more AMPs available for the general aviation community. That community has a shortage of AMPs and will benefit significantly from the infusion of new skilled mechanics. Sereno has repaired and refurbished aircraft as a result of the work done by the trainees that can be resold and the profits of which are reinvested in Sereno Aviation for supporting future AMPs.