9 colleges expand aviation training as market grows
Posted on Sunday, November 18, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE — David Strey’s fascination with airplanes began when he was only a few feet tall.
“I’ve always had a passion for aviation,” said Strey, 26. “I like anything that flies, everything from the smallest little plane that you can go bouncing around in to large jumbo jets.”
As part of Northwest Arkansas Community College’s aviation maintenance program, he is learning to repair, maintain and troubleshoot problems on planes of all sizes.
The skills are in high demand in Arkansas’ growing aviation industry. Aircraft and related parts are the state’s largest export, totaling $ 829. 97 million in 2005, up 65 percent from the year before, according to the U. S. Department of Commerce.
Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville and Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock are expanding their aviation programs. They are among nine community colleges have formed a consortium to increase aviation education offerings statewide.
“We’re recognizing the emergence of the aerospace industry in the state,” said Edward Franklin, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges. “We’re looking at what we have and what we can do to meet the needs of the aerospace industry in Arkansas.”
Steve Hotle, who leads the aviation program at Pulaski Tech, said companies throughout Arkansas and from as far away as Alaska call seeking graduates.
“They’re hiring our students before they get out of school,” Hotle said. “They don’t want to let them get away. They need people quicker than we can get them trained.”
Andrew Ponzoni, manager of public relations for Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., said the industry is growing nationwide.
“The demand for aircraft has been going through the roof,” Ponzoni said from the company’s headquarters in South Hackensack, N. J.
Dassault has announced two major expansions to its Little Rock facilities since June: a $ 20 million expansion to its completion center and a $ 10 million expansion to double the size of its service center.
“We will be adding 300 jobs over the next three years in Little Rock,” Ponzoni said.
Last month, American Eagle Airlines announced a $ 10 million expansion and renovation of its maintenance facility in at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill. The expansion is expected to bring up to 100 new jobs to Northwest Arkansas over the next two years.
Northwest Arkansas Community College offers aviation maintenance classes in Gentry and at its Regional Technology Center in Fayetteville. The program has 24 high school students and 33 adults students this fall, said Paul Rehberg, dean of the Fayetteville center.
Full-time students in the twoyear program attend classes six hours a day, five days a week.
Derek Crews, the college’s vice president for workforce development, said the hope is to expand the program at least 25 percent over the next year. College officials are looking for a new base for the program after announcing plans this month to vacate the Fayetteville site by July.
“I would love to see our student population much higher,” said David Lohr, the college’s aviation program coordinator. “I just don’t have the number of people graduating that are needed.”
The college is hosting an aviation job fair at its Bentonville campus from 2-7 p. m. Nov. 28. Seven companies will be there to educate students about job opportunities, including Dassault, Wal-Mart Aviation, American Airlines and Hawker Beechcraft Corp.
Pulaski Tech’s program is based at the North Little Rock Airport, where the college plans to build a second hangar that will more than double the program’s instruction space, Hotle said.
The college has one 20, 000-square-foot hangar and is looking to build a $ 3 million 25, 000-square-foot hangar within the next 18 months. The program has grown from about 30 students when Hotle came to Pulaski Tech nine years ago to 108 students this fall.
“We expect to probably double the number of people in our aviation program in the next three years,” Hotle said.
Hotle estimates 98 percent of Pulaski Tech aviation students who get certified by the Federal Aviation Administration go to work for companies in central Arkansas.
Both colleges also plan to expand their aviation offerings to include specialties like avionics, cabinetry and upholstery.
The consortium was formed three months ago with the goal of providing a conduit for collaboration among colleges statewide.
“The problem with the aviation industry is it’s all spread throughout the state,” Franklin said. “If we can provide the workforce, there will be a possibility of expansion for these types of companies in Arkansas.”
Around 170 aviation maintenance programs are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“I think more schools like ours need to come into existence to meet the demand,” Hotle said. “Any place that has an airport has a need for mechanics right now.”
Aircraft mechanics and service technicians made a median wage of $ 21. 77 per hour in May 2004, according to the latest figures from the U. S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Hotle attributed the industry’s growth in part to high demand for smaller jets in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with companies partnering to buy jets and avoid the hassles of large airports. Demand for qualified mechanics also is expected to grow as Vietnam War-era airplane mechanics retire, he said. Lohr said enrollment at the Northwest Arkansas program has fluctuated over the years. He estimates 615 people have graduated from the program. “Aviation, like everything else, goes in trends,” Lohr said. “I don’t see it ever becoming a bad job market. We’re not going to quit flying.”
To contact this reporter: cpark@arkansasonline. com
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