Although the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative effect on the aftermarket workforce, AAR is continuing to plan for the future by launching a new initiative with the nonprofit Corporation for Skilled Workforce (CSW). The initiative seeks to grow a more diverse workforce in the aviation industry through the development of a number of different programs related to recruiting underrepresented populations.

“As our industry rebuilds following the impact of COVID-19, we have a unique opportunity to strengthen the talent pipeline through recruitment of groups that historically have been under-represented in aviation,” says John Holmes, president and CEO, AAR.

The initiative, which is powered by a grant from Lumina Foundation, will start with the launch of a pilot program next month to mentor and develop a cohort of up to 20 women in aviation maintenance at AAR’s aircraft repair facility in Miami, Florida. According to Brian Loomer, VP and general manager of AAR’s Miami facility, the cohort will be teamed up with women already working in technical positions at the site as they complete general familiarization courses. The site will also implement a support group for the women to better understand how the program is progressing and what can be done better.

Ryan Goertzen, AAR’s VP workforce development, says the program will also feature a research component in partnership with the University of Nebraska Omaha and the Department of Transportation’s Women in Aviation Task Force, during which surveys and focus groups will be used as an opportunity to learn along the way.

“We want to ultimately learn what are some best practices and how we can, as an industry, really move the needle off this 2.4%, which has traditionally been women in the technical workforce, and maybe put the industry on a ‘Why can’t it be 10% or more?’ [track]. We believe that this is a good step forward in really moving that needle,” says Goertzen.

The initiative will also expand AAR’s Skillbridge programs, which focus on providing job opportunities for military veterans and active duty personnel that are transitioning to civilian aviation maintenance careers. Through Skillbridge, AAR works with transitioning military personnel that have hands-on experience working with helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft on both systems training and soft skills related to the civilian workforce. At the end of the nine-week program, students are issued a Boeing 737NG Gen Fam certificate. AAR runs Skillbridge programs out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Naval Air Station Jacksonville and plans to expand the course to other U.S. military bases, including Fort Carson, Fort Benning and Hurlburt Field.

Finally, the initiative will build on AAR’s existing EAGLE Career Pathways program, which provides multiple pathways to aviation careers and FAA certification. Through October 2021, AAR and CSW plan to engage community colleges and technical training providers in strategic locations to develop competency-based programs, curriculum and stackable credentials to meet FAA Airframe & Powerplant requirements. The idea, says Goertzen, is to provide different, accelerated programs for students to gain employment in the industry—so students could take aviation sheet metalworking courses to become qualified for entry-level aviation and manufacturing jobs or continue to build on their expertise with coursework in other areas such as avionics and aviation electronics.

These types of skillsets are valuable to a variety of industries, so the long-dwelling concern about qualified technicians transitioning to other industries still remains. Aviation’s downturn has painted a bleaker outlook for job security within MRO, and AAR itself hasn’t been immune—it had to close its Duluth, Minnesota facility this summer and furlough employees at other sites. However, Brian Sartain, AAR’s senior vice president repair and engineering services, notes that CARES Act funding has enabled it to maintain benefits for furloughed workers and invest in training and development opportunities for employees at sites where maintenance demand has been reduced.

“We’re hiring and bringing back a significant majority of our furloughed workers already because of the volume we’re starting to see. We are seeing the return of maintenance with our customers,” says Sartain. “And those folks who have those aviation technician jobs didn’t see a wage cut like some other industries for that class of employee. I think there’s a lot of reasons that aviation’s still a good place to work.”

Goertzen points out that timing of the industry’s recovery may also work in new recruits’ favor. “For me there’s no better time than now to be coming out of high school and going into an aviation school that’s on average 24 calendar months long. By the time those students leave their school, the industry, we hope, is recovered or nearly recovered to what it was prior to the pandemic,” he says. “We were in a crisis prior to the crisis. We couldn’t find skilled technicians in February of this year, so I think we need to remain vigilant and steadfast to keeping that pipeline coming, because aviation will return.”