Posted on 03/02/2024 9:04:29 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The aerospace industry desperately needs young talent if we expect it to grow, innovate, and continue providing the services we need and expect in the modern era. The jobs are plentiful, but the skilled workers are not. The leaders of the industry must do a better job of communicating with the next generation of aviation pilots, machinists, and mechanics. If they don’t, the future of aerospace is in jeopardy.
A recently released industry report a detailed that “the aircraft mechanic shortage has reached a critical point" and the outlook for growth is precarious. This is detrimental not only to commercial aviation, but also national defense aviation. Without mechanics to service the U.S. aerial fleet, it’s essentially useless.
In his testimony to the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee last fall, Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani said that the Pentagon missed its recruiting goals by roughly 41,000 recruits. He also noted that “the all-volunteer force faces one of its greatest challenges since inception” in 1973. As our fighting forces shrink, so does the number of skilled machinists, technicians and pilots that are trained to service our defense aircraft. This is exacerbating an already critical problem.
I spent my aviation career as an F-15 technician and crew chief in the U.S. Air Force (USAF), and later I was hired by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company which eventually merged with Boeing. Working on this first-class fighter jet gave me opportunities I never imagined, including traveling to Saudi Arabia to support and train officers in the maintenance of the F-15s for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) working on the F-15 C/D models. This is the most successful fighter jet in the world with an unbeaten combat record.
America’s younger generation has so much to offer. The technologies that have developed since I began my career have advanced tremendously, and today’s young people are already masters of it. The sky is the limit, literally. But they can’t seize on aerospace careers if they don’t know about them.
Now is the time for the aerospace industry to make a concerted effort to increase awareness about the fulfilling, family-supporting opportunities in aviation. For too many years, the message to our young people has been you need to go to college to succeed. While that may be the right path for some, it’s not the only path to success. Especially when you consider that the cost of a traditional college education has increased by nearly 150% since the 1960s.
Aerospace companies have been partnering with colleges and universities to create training programs that help directly fill open trades positions directly upon completion. Similarly, the U.S. service branches have been pounding the pavement, trying to reach young people and educate them on all the opportunities available through military service. However, more must be done. The skilled worker shortages get worse every day, stagnating the industry and creating a substantial national defense concern.
Industry leaders, elected officials, and those currently in the field must do what they can to meet our young people where they are. We must share our success stories, promote training programs, and offer guidance and advice to students who could become contributors and innovators in the industry. The problem won’t resolve overnight, but we can make incremental improvements if we work together.
Felix Aviles is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a single-engine pilot, and a Boeing retired F-15 technician. He currently resides in Tucson, AZ.
Hey, no problemo. DEI hiring will take care of that.
My daughter graduated with highest honors in engineering physics and went to work for NASA in mission control for the ISS. Couldn’t stand it. It was classic government work with 30+ year civil service vets tamping out any young ambition. She went to a large aerospace contractor but it’s still a massive bureaucracy with no possibility for rapid advancement.
Now she’s changing fields entirely to find a field where she is allowed to excel. These employers are their own worst enemy.
Oh it's a lot more than that.
Aerospace doesn’t want talent, they want DEI. Skin color and homosexuality is all that matters.
“He’s currently seeking a new job with no shortage of interviews.”
Sounds like interviews are happening but job offers are not.
To continue your poem to the new employees: (ahem) ..you are a dolt. And "he" is a wench.
It’s a shame, all those young guys with finger arthritis already. Kind of hard for them to work on circuit boards, precision instruments, etc.
“Transvestite Lt. Col Bryan (Bree) Fram of the U.S. Space Force...”
Ah yes, the transvestite who urges correct pronoun usage.
He still has a full bird in his trousers?
He just started looking two weeks ago. He’s very well employed at NASA already.
I think you are rather misinformed.
I am quite plugged in to several industries, one is Aerospace, as besides following the trades, I still know people there. My first career in the US pre-peace dividend was in aerospace.
And lets say I have family in the business. I was twice given tours of Musk’s Hawthorne factory, invited to Vandenberg for a launch, etc.
Your conclusions are wrong. Patriot and HIMARS are a huge success, way beyond expectations, and that is causing rethink in East Asia. US combat aircraft production is far ahead of Russia and China, at @250 airframes/year. No western aerospace system has been “butchered”. The worst problem in Ukraine is that too little has been given to them, given the size of their opponent.
“Your conclusions are wrong. Patriot and HIMARS are a huge success...”
Which is why Russian glide bombs are SMASHING the hell out of Ukrainian cities.
Can’t have it both ways.
By the way, any luck on the Kerch Bridge? LOL.
Blowing up apartment buildings is a poor use for scarce cruise missiles. These should be aimed at important infrastructure, not civilian homes.
And, unfortunately, defending them is a poor use for scarce Patriot missiles. Scarce because the US Congress wont let the US send Ukraine more, and their resupply from other sources is difficult. So Ukraine has to choose which missiles to intercept. A bitter calculation.
The tradeoff for Russian manned aircraft however is excellent.
And that is the answer to the glide bombs. Thats what all those SU34’s were doing, popping up to high altitude to give the bombs speed and range. The risk is getting detected and targeted by long range SAMs. As we see.
The USAF, btw, has much better glide bombs (like the smallest, the SDB) with more range as they are aerodynamic, and stealth (or stealthier) aircraft to drop them. And this has been so for about 20 years.
The Russians are at least 20 years behind the US in this tactic and this type of weapon system. And in the rock-paper-scissors game of aerial warfare, the US has a dozen sorts of SEAD methods to further reduce the effectiveness of SAMs, none of which it seems the Russians have managed to implement. And then there is ... Well, by now you should get my point.
The Russian glide bombs are used against targets on or near the front line, not cities, because that was the safest approach to close air support the Russians could manage. Not so safe now it seems.
I thought you meant cruise missile attacks, which did change focus this year from infrastructure to “terror”.
Nice to say but take a look at the employment sections of all the large aerospace companies. They are cutting back on any entry level and the only openings are for those with years of experience or people of color. Just go check Boeing for example
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