Council Works to Address Aviation Maintenance Labor Shortfall

Airline officials met this week with faculty from five Bay Area community colleges for the last of a series of Occupational Councils the Bay Area Council convened this year through its Workforce of the Future Committee to address a severe labor shortage in the aviation maintenance industry. Council members Alaska Airlines, SFO, Southwest and United, along with representatives from JetBlue, talked with educators about ways to fill up and speed up the pipeline of aviation maintenance technicians, including reducing the cost of federally required certifications and engaging more veterans in the aviation industry.

Looking ahead to 2019, the Workforce of the Future Committee is already working to hold a Working at SFO career exploration forum in January that will convene key stakeholders in education, industry and community organizations to examine career pathways and scholarships in the aviation, hospitality, retail, tourism and food service industries. For more information on the Bay Area Council’s Workforce of the Future program, please contact Senior Vice President Linda Bidrossian.