Interest in aviation careers is booming in the Chicago area, thanks to a new partnership between a local high school district, an airframe and powerplant (A&P) school and American Airlines’ Tech Ops team at O’Hare International Airport (ORD). Informally launched less than two years ago by two of American’s crew chiefs at ORD, the Educational Outreach Program has “mushroomed almost instantaneously,” says Gary Percy, crew chief of aircraft maintenance at the airline
The program’s roots began with the simple desire to spark a passion for aviation careers in younger generations. A contact of Percy’s from Township High School District 214 (D214), located near ORD, reached out to him for input on an aviation academy the district was trying to set up.
According to Megan Knight, D214 director of programs and pathways, the aviation academy developed as a result of strong demand for qualified aviation professionals in the area. “What we saw, looking at the job outlook, was there was so much opportunity in this space that was untapped; so we wanted to create a talent pipeline into the field of aviation with our kids,” she explains. “We’ve always had a really strong transportation program—we have a lot of students in our autos program—and so we felt like we had the target audience in terms of our students, and that allowed us to move forward.”
The academy, now in its second year, is run out of Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) in partnership with American Airlines and Lewis University. Students in the program take two dual-credit, introductory courses—Aviation Fundamentals and Aviation Physics—that count toward transcripted college credit and are taught by instructors from Lewis. Knight says the coursework caters to students regardless of which area of interest they are pursuing, so they are not pigeonholed into one field.
Classes take place in a recently renovated portion of a T-hangar at PWK, which features a classroom and lab space. According to Knight, hands-on learning experiences at the airport are a major element in generating interest among high school students. “We want the kids to be there and feel the energy of that. To be able to go to school and to have aircraft taxiing right in front of you is really unlike anything that our kids have ever seen. Most people don’t have a high school experience that looks like that,” she says.
In addition to helping D214 develop curriculum based around certifications that are critical in the field of aircraft maintenance, Percy and his colleague Jack O’Callaghan, technical crew chief at ORD, began arranging hangar tours for students at ORD. A centerpiece of these tours is walking students through the Boeing 787, “a flying computer,” Percy says.
“The younger generation, that’s what they do—whether it’s gaming, programming or anything like that. The airplanes are so computerized, and I think that’s what draws them to it,” he says.
American’s ORD Tech Ops staff lets students look inside the electronics compartment of the aircraft to see “the brains of what makes the airplane operate,” O’Callaghan adds, which also presents photo opportunities inside the aircraft.
Knight says several Aviation Academy classes have visited American’s ORD hangar, and the airline has been working with D214 and Lewis University on how to best develop a career pathway for students.
“They have been really interested in how to grow their talent pipeline, so they have a vested interest in helping us grow this pathway and the interest [of] students,” she says. “They’ve been very involved and are helping us explore opportunities and opening up their facilities to our students to inspire them to think about going into this field—whether on the aviation mechanic side or even on the pilot side.”
According to O’Callaghan, word about the program has spread quickly in the area, and ORD Tech Ops has seen a high level of interest from other local high schools.
“We’re trying, with the help of our station director, to figure out the best way to put it out there that there are technical opportunities for A&P mechanics and within American Airlines,” he says. “But the bigger picture is getting kids involved in aviation, because there are lots of companies and opportunities out there.”
O’Callaghan points out that an A&P license can also open up career opportunities outside of aviation. “That A&P ticket is a valued commodity in other industries because [other companies] know what kind of training you received in school. Disneyland hires A&P mechanics, because [they’ve] got a background in pneumatics, hydraulics and electrics,” he says.
Percy and O’Callaghan are now working with American’s other departments to grow the Educational Outreach Program system-wide, especially since some of the airline’s other maintenance stations have expressed interest, and “corporate is trying to catch up,” Percy says.
Within the next year, D214 hopes to implement some work-based learning opportunities for Aviation Academy students and strategically increase access to the program for all six of its area schools.
“What’s exciting about this is that it’s developing and it’s growing, so our partnership with American is only going to become stronger,” says Kathy Wicks, partnership manager for D214’s Center for Career Discovery.
“We’re really at the infancy stages of that right now,” Wicks says. “So we’re very excited and have talks planned for the future to map out where we think this can go, which students we can teach and also the parent component as well, to really help everyone understand the opportunity. So I think there’s more to come—the sky’s the limit.”
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