Mark Maryak, director of flight training at CAE Pueblo Training Center, told the Pueblo City Council on Monday that the center intends to broaden its training portfolio beyond Air Force introductory flight training, and described near‑term workforce and facility plans.

“We exist to make the world safer,” Maryak said, summarizing CAE’s mission. He told the council the Pueblo campus sits on about 48 acres, operates a fleet of 62 Diamond DA20 aircraft and has trained about 25,000 U.S. Air Force aviators since the program began in 2006.

Maryak said CAE is pursuing several community‑facing expansions: an airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic school in partnership with Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University Pueblo to produce skilled maintenance workers; expanded civilian pilot training modeled on CAE’s Phoenix facility that can take ab initio students through private, instrument and certified flight instructor (CFI) ratings; and new international contracts including a pending training agreement with the German Air Force. He added that CAE Phoenix has asked whether Pueblo could host airline‑training pipelines and said, “If I came to you in 6 months or a year and ask you if you could take on an airline, yes, we can do that here.”

Maryak described changing Air Force requirements that are shortening or lengthening training blocks: the center is shifting from about seven weeks of training to programs that could keep students in Pueblo for roughly four and a half months. He said that will increase infrastructure needs — especially ramp and parking space — and that some capital investment would be required as the center seeks to capture more market share of military and coalition training.

He provided workforce and output figures: the center employed about 179 people at the time of the presentation (down from a peak around 220), has operated more than half a million flight hours in total, and in busy years has trained as many as 1,000–1,200 students in seven‑week courses. For the proposed A&P program Maryak estimated an initial intake of about 250 students per year, noting that some phases of CAE’s pipeline historically reached far higher throughput.

Council members responded positively. Councilor Flores asked about the company’s ownership history; Maryak described prior corporate sales and said CAE acquired the program in the most recent transaction. Councilman Boston and Councilwoman Maestri thanked Maryak for pursuing local workforce opportunities. Maryak said he expects employment to grow beyond 250 staff as new programs ramp up, and said his organization is working with local partners — including PEDCO, PCC and the Chamber of Commerce — to identify capital and partnership needs.

Ending: CAE Pueblo described concrete education and training proposals that city officials said they would support in follow‑up; staff and CAE said further discussion with PEDCO and educational partners will define funding and implementation steps.