November-December 2022 - 23

AIRPORT GURU
significant workforce challenges such
as the shortage of qualified pilots and
technicians must be addressed. Filling
this gap will not only require more
pay, but mechanisms to support an
employee's desires for job fulfillment
and empowerment.
To address the labor shortage in
aviation and aerospace, the House
Small Business Committee on
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and
Workforce Development is proposing
a solution to focus on workforce initiatives
such as training grants and paid
apprenticeships. These measures are
intended to increase the talent pool
and enable young people to choose a
career path earlier in life.
It is also important to consider the
COVID-19 crisis also has caused a
spike in union organizing activity.
Increased public concern about health,
safety and job security have provided
an opportunity for labor unions to
organize new groups of workers and
bring in new members. Often, government
employee benefits packages
are subject to lengthy union negotiation
processes or authorization from
elected officials, which has contributed
to a slower recovery of public
employee jobs.
What does this mean for the
general aviation industry? Public policymakers
and airport sponsors must
make it a top priority to address labor
shortages. If public sector employers
cannot reverse the current trend, it
will negatively impact the delivery
of services and slow the overall economic
recovery.
In the current situation, tenants at
many municipal airports are ramping
up operations, staffing and productivity
to pre-pandemic levels, while
airport operations, police and administrative
staff remain in short supply.
The failure of government to maintain
a qualified workforce may not
only impair efficiency and customer
service, but negatively impact airport
safety and security.
This is especially evident in the
ongoing shortage of FAA personnel,
which has resulted in pilots struggling
to obtain essential documentation
required for flight, including
medical certificates. Flight training
activities are also limited at many
airports, causing delays in recurrent
training and closing the pipeline for
future aviators.
For the aviation industry to
continue supporting communities,
For example, through an apprenticeship
program at San Bernadino
Valley College in California, community
college students are learning
the technical skills needed to attain
an airframe and powerplant mechanics
license, from sheet metal to avionics
technology. With additional
state and federal support, programs
such as this could expand to communities
nationwide.
To achieve economic recovery
and grow profitability, airport sponsors
and tenant businesses must work
together to meet the current demand
for air travel, incentivize employees to
return to work, and develop programs
to attract, train and retain the future
aviation workforce. Policy leaders in
government must recognize this, since
the efficiency, safety and security of
our national air transportation system
depends on it. 
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 \ AVIATIONPROS.COM / 23
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NATA
http://www.AVIATIONPROS.COM
November-December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November-December 2022
