Opinion: Partnering Is Key To Expanding The Aviation Talent Pipeline

Happy New Year—new academic year, that is! As students head back to school, many organizations and companies are thinking about reaching out to young people to grow awareness about the aviation and aerospace industries. It is time for us to accelerate the work being done across the country to address the talent shortage we have now and are likely to have in the future.

The Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force (YIATF) submitted its report to Congress in 2022, suggesting how to attract more young people to our industry more effectively. Among its more than 20 suggestions, one of the most important was the identification of the prime time at which to reach youth. The answer: when they are 10 years old. Raising awareness about opportunities in our industry could be done through an event at a local airport, rides in simulators or working on an aviation-related project as part of an after-school club activity.

Unfortunately, unless one’s family member or friend is employed or involved in aviation, one tends to have little knowledge of how vast the career options are in the industry beyond piloting. This is even more likely to be the case for someone from an underrepresented community where not many people are involved in aviation as either a career or a hobby.

Regional and local company- and organization-based events and experiences provide families with the chance to learn more. But it is not enough simply to host an event and hope those excited kids pursue aviation after that one interaction. We need a connected pipeline that allows young people to sample and savor all the myriad possibilities in a more thoughtful and planned way.

For instance, at that local airport event parental contact information can be collected and passed to the nearby Civil Air Patrol (CAP) unit (in full disclosure, I am on the board of CAP). The unit could invite children age 12 or older, as well as their parents, to learn about drone flying, safety and more. With nearly 70,000 members nationwide and squadrons in every state as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, CAP operates the largest single-piston aircraft fleet in the world and one of the largest drone programs in the nation. These are tools to support their mission of emergency services, aerospace education and cadet programs.

In its 2022 report, the YIATF also included a call for a “one-stop aviation/aerospace information portal” for students, parents, caregivers and educators (including guidance counselors) to learn more about career pathways, connections to regional and national organizations and curricula and to provide them access to an AI counselor to answer questions. During the YIATF’s study, we learned that of the guidance counselors we surveyed, 65% believe the best resources for introducing students to aviation and aerospace careers are on the internet.

An information portal could be a tool to nurture an emerging passion. For example, aviation entrepreneurs Shaesta Waiz and Michael Wildes are creating a one-stop digital career and community platform with real-time job data as well as career pathways and industry opportunities.

What can you and your company or organization do this school year to reach out to young people? First, think about partnering with another organization in your region to co-promote and co-host an event, especially for groups that are in under-resourced communities. For example, co-host an event with the local Boys & Girls Club, which engages young people with education and career pathways, and the local CAP squadron, which shares information about careers in aviation.

Second, make sure you are reaching middle-schoolers. High school is too late to reach young people—they may have already chosen a field or simply decided that aviation is not for them. If you are not sure how to find the right partner, look at the FAA’s STEM Aviation and Space Education Partnerships page on the agency’s website and start the conversation in your community with like-minded individuals who know firsthand the transformative effects of our industry. The more connected and broader the outreach, the better chance we have of recruiting great talent.

Sharon B. DeVivo is president of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Flushing, New York.