Production Manager

Martha Jercinovich

The Golden Rule of the MRO industry is, “Those who have the best A&amp;Ps and avionics technicians rule.” And that’s created fierce competition among commercial and business aircraft maintainers to attract and retain the best from the shallow pool of new talent entering our industry.
“These challenges aren’t on the horizon – they’re here now,” says Sharon Hamilton, director of human resources at Western Aircraft. “The aviation industry must rethink how we attract, train, and retain talent if we want to stay ahead of workforce shortages.”
However, instead of lamenting the problem, Western Aircraft has been developing and implementing a range of new programs and initiatives to enhance its ability to meet the growing demand for skilled aviation technicians.
One of the most ambitious efforts is to proactively reach out to state and local educators to inform teachers, students, and influencers that business aviation offers a variety of high-paying career opportunities.
“Young people don’t even realize that aviation is a career option,” Western Aircraft’s Director of MRO Operations, Brody McKenna, says. “It’s not only A&amp;Ps, but upholsters, cabinetry, painters – so many other disciplines that skilled workers may not even consider being tied to aviation.”
<h2>Building a sustainable workforce begins at home.</h2>
Of course, the need to attract new talent to aviation is only overshadowed by the requirement to train them to the highest FAA standards – and that’s the goal of another of Western Aircraft’s recent initiatives.
“We started a new entry-level A&amp;P training program that helps us to get them up to speed faster,” Hamilton says. “Someone with zero experience can work here for three years and be ready to test for their A&amp;P certificate. They become a very valuable addition to our team in a very short time.”
“It’s not just hiring and training, we’re also concentrating on retaining these professionals,” she continues. “We’ve introduced our Syllabus Program, which creates a defined career path for our A&amp;Ps and avionics technicians. They see where their career can go with us. It’s been a very effective retention tool.”
McKenna stresses that while building its workforce with trained and motivated technicians is its primary goal, secondarily, their efforts give Western Aircraft’s customers confidence in knowing that their aircraft are being cared for by dedicated professionals.
“Many of our customers have been with us for a long time, and they know we’re in this for the long haul,” he says. “We are doing what we need to do to continue to be their MRO service provider of choice – today, and for decades to come.”

<h2>The Solution</h2>
» Introduced a three-year, in-house A&amp;P apprentice training program
» Real-world experience working on everything from turboprops to large cabin business jets
» Created a clearly defined career track for A&amp;P and avionics technicians to promote retention
westair.com
(800) 333-3442

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