Another class of this year’s Aviation Academy is one step closer to working in the aircraft space in the CSRA.
The six-week Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Augusta summer program takes students out of the classroom and into the field to learn about careers in aviation beyond pilot or flight attendant.
“They toured Daniel Field. They toured the hangars. They spoke to the people who do the jobs, the people that fly, the people that do the maintenance techs, the people that do the scheduling,” Andrew Conner, the club’s Marketing & Communications Manager, told ABD. “They’ve been up in the tower at Augusta Regional talking to those people about what they do, all over StandardAero looking at aircraft worth tens of millions of dollars.”
In addition to local aviation facilities, the students traveled to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Shaw Air Force Base near Sumpter, SC.
“I just want kids to know that there are opportunities in this world that are really neat, and they are needed,” said BGCGA Board Member Austin Jackson, who currently spearheads the program. “It’s an old workforce…there’s a lot of retirements that are ongoing, and we need to backfill those positions with young people.”
Conner said there is a desperate need for trained individuals to fill thousands of well-paying jobs in the aviation industry.
“Boeing says in the next 20 years they’re expecting in North America, just maintenance technicians, they will need 125,000 new maintenance technicians, and that’s not counting pilots or cabin crews. That’s not counting logistics. That’s not counting IT,” he said. “Pilots are forced to retire at 65. There aren’t nearly enough coming. They estimate that they’re going to need 24,000 new pilots over the next 10 years. “
Cooper added that the aviation industry has many jobs, including maintenance and repairs that are unlikely to be impacted by AI.
“You’ve got a job that is safe from technological advancement taking it away from you,” he said. “You’ve got a job that pays very well, that has great benefits and a great amount of job security. And you just see their eyes light up when they go on these tours and start asking these in-depth, really detailed questions.”
The Aviation Academy is part of the BGCGA’s Industry Clubs. Other programs include Culinary, Barbering and Cosmetology, Fashion Design and Merchandising, and Film.
“We’ve actually repurposed our entire E.W. Hagler Club to now be focused 100% on teens and industry workforce training,” Cooper said. “One of the most critical things that we try to communicate through this program is that it is not necessary, depending on, of course, what job specifically you’re looking at, to spend a bunch of money or try to find a bunch of scholarships to get a four-year degree.”
Among the resources at the E.W. Hagler Club is a flight simulator to allow students to learn more about aviation.
The academy at BCGCA complements the work being done by AIR EDU, a partnership between Augusta Regional Airport and the Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School that provides internships to students interested in the aviation industry.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of BGCGA. To learn more about the organization, visit www.bgcgreateraugusta.org or find it on Facebook.
