Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
For aircraft mechanics, sky’s the limit
Nation’s colleges join push for recruits as industry faces shortage of workers
DULUTH, Minn. — Kieran Cummings has a year of school left, but he’s already making a living repairing commercial jets. After a day of classes at one hangar at the airport here, he heads to another where he works late into the night — some caffeine required.
“We’re tearing these things apart, and we’re doing everything,” said the Lake Superior College student. “The experience, you can’t beat it.”
It takes a lot of people on the ground to keep airplanes in the sky, and a shortage of aircraft mechanics around the country is causing employers to get creative and some school programs to swell.
As aviation booms in the Duluth area, led by plane-maker Cirrus Aircraft and aviation services company AAR Corp., Lake Superior College is doubling down on the industry thanks in part to cash and material donations that have stretched into six figures in recent years.
Enrollment in the aircraft maintenance technology program hit another record this year.
“We’re seeing these workforce shortages across the board in manufacturing, health care, but aviation is stepping up and putting some skin in the game,” said Daniel Fanning, the school’s director of institutional advancement.
Minneapolis Community and Technical College has likewise seen enrollment grow for its aircraft maintenance program, located inside the Delta Air Lines hangar at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The airline has also partnered with Lake Superior College and dozens of other schools around the country to “mentor and source the next generation of aircraft maintenance technicians” as it faces more than 2,000 retirements in the next decade, said Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant.
Across North America, Boeing estimates there will be demand for 193,000 aircraft me
chanics over the next 20 years.
But aviation programs are costly to maintain and still hard to recruit for.
The University of Minnesota Crookston recently suspended its program — which had been around since the school was founded in 1967 — citing increasing expenses and only modest enrollment. Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls has seen its aviation enrollment shrink as a strong economy deters those who might want to go back to school to change careers.
Industry support — which in Duluth includes donated parts from Cirrus and tuition reimbursement for students who sign on for two years at AAR — has been crucial to building the workforce pipeline.
The rest is up to students. “If you don’t get a job in aviation right now, it’s because you’re not trying,” said Lake Superior College instructor William Beecroft.
In just five years, Lake Superior College’s program has grown from a handful of students to more than 80 this year. Beecroft chalks that up to a growing awareness and a steady increase in the school’s resources. It also reflects the industry in Duluth, which has grown by 40% over the past decade to 3,200 jobs, according to state figures.
Cummings starts his days at 8 a.m. and often ends them as late as 2 a.m., between classes and his job at AAR on the other side of the runway.
“It’s challenging, without a doubt,” said the 24-year-old Minneapolis native. “There has not been a job where I just continuously learn so much.”