Member Spotlight: AIM Addresses Looming Aviation Maintenance Worker Shortage

As a wave of retirements threatens a labor shortage in the aviation maintenance industry, Bay Area Council member Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) this week (Sept. 19) opened a new campus in Fremont. AIM is focused on educating and training the next generation of aircraft maintenance technicians to help fill the widening skills gap this occupation is experiencing. AIM was welcomed to Fremont during a grand opening celebration attended by state Senator Bob Wieckowski, Assemblymember Kansen Chu, Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, Congressman Ro Khanna’s office, and Fremont City Councilmembers Rick Jones and Rag Salwick. The leaders praised the importance of AIM’s campus in Fremont, which is home to an estimated 9,000 manufacturing businesses . In particular, Senator Wiecowski commented “the role that the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in the coming years is going to be vital for the health of our airline industry. We simply need to have the mechanics trained to do the job.”

As an active member of the Council’s Workforce of the Future’s Aviation Maintenance Technician Occupational, AIM is collaborating with local community colleges and employers to develop employer-driven solutions to fill this skill gap in the aviation industry. For more information about the Workforce of the Future’s initiatives, please contact Senior Vice President Linda Bidrossian.