Strengthening Oklahoma’s Aviation Maintenance Workforce Pipeline through Collaborative Efforts of CareerTech, Educational Institutions and Industry Partners

As the needs of the 21^st century aviation/aerospace workforce change and in-demand job skills evolve, it becomes increasingly important to cohesively bring industry and education together to produce a well-trained, qualified aviation maintenance technical workforce for the state of Oklahoma. The primary focus of this FAA-funded project is to establish a sustainable pipeline that addresses the needs and priorities of the aviation maintenance workforce, a significant sector of the aviation/aerospace industry that drives Oklahoma’s economic growth. This sustainable pipeline will be built with a broad array of educational and industry partners. This pipeline will be designed to recruit, train, and retain a diverse and talented workforce, including underrepresented and disadvantaged populations, into the aviation maintenance industry. This workforce group will consist of high school students and adult learners, including military personnel and aviation/aerospace workers displaced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As the students matriculate through the pipeline, each one of them will have various learning opportunities to obtain maintenance certificates, academic scholarships, industry apprenticeships and internships, and an associate degree in applied technology and a bachelor’s degree in aviation management; ensuring that all students receive the academic and professional experiences required for industry employment and advancement. When successfully created and maintained, the use of collaborative agreements among high schools, career techs and colleges/universities will reduce the cost of skills training and higher education opportunities and enable students to graduate with little or no debt and the pipeline of skilled aviation maintenance technicians is increased within the state of Oklahoma.