The Chamblee, Georgia-based fractional charter jet operator had widespread employee layoffs after entering into an aircraft management services agreement with competitor flyExclusive (NYSE: FLYX) on September 3.

Thursday’s class action was filed by law firm Kwall Barack Nadeau PLLC and attorney Arthur Schofield in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. In their complaint, prosecutors state Volato employed approximately 260. At least 233 of these employees were laid off August 30 after receiving an email notifying them of their termination.

The WARN Act mandates employers with over 100 employees provide a 60-day notice in advance of plant closings or mass layoffs. The complaint alleges that because these employees were let go as part of a plant shutdown or mass layoff, they were entitled to receive such written notice.

On its website, Kwall Barack Nadeau states that Volato’s actions have left the terminated employees without the compensation and benefits they were entitled to, creating financial distress for many. The plaintiffs seek to secure compensation for unpaid wages, accrued holiday pay, accrued vacation pay, accrued sick leave pay, and other benefits lost due to Volato’s failure to provide notice.

“This case is about holding Volato accountable for the harm it has caused its employees,” said Ryan Barack, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in a statement on the law firm’s website. “Employers are required by law to provide notice before significant layoffs, and Volato’s failure to comply with the WARN Act has had a devastating impact on its workforce.”

Volato’s poor quarterly financials earlier this summer were reminiscent of issues that faced Jet It, another fractional charter jet operator that failed a year prior due in part to supply chain issues that rocked the industry in 2021 and 2022.

Volato did not immediately respond to FLYING’s request for comment.

The post Terminated Volato Employees File Class Action Lawsuit appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The bipartisan legislation would make education and training more affordable by allowing students to use their 529 savings accounts for aviation-related industries. 529 plans are tax-advantaged savings plans designed to help pay for education. Initially, the plans could only be used for degrees at four-year universities.

By expanding 529 plans to include trades like aviation, the Aviation Workforce Development Act is addressing the shortage of qualified professionals in the industry and attracting new talent.

Representatives Mike Collins (R-Georgia), Jimmy Panetta (D-California), Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania.), and Aviation Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-Tennessee), introduced the legislation, along with several co-sponsors.

• READ MORE: Phil Washington Withdraws Nomination for FAA Administrator

“The airline industry has been experiencing a shortage of pilots for years, and early retirements forced by the COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated that shortage,” said Kelly. “We must do everything we can to incentivize more Americans to become airline pilots. This Aviation Workforce Development Act does just that. By making training more affordable, not only can we hire more pilots, but we can also provide more flights—both domestically and internationally—to fully serve airports like Erie International Airport, which has lost critical air service in recent years due in part to the skilled labor shortage.” 

Several industry stakeholders have also endorsed the bill—including the National Air Carrier Association (NACA), Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA), and Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA).

NACA, which includes ultra low-cost carriers such as Allegiant Air, Avelo Air, Breeze Airways, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines, reiterated the need to hire qualified pilots. To keep up with passenger and cargo demand, NACA says airlines will need to hire at least 7,300 pilots this year despite a pool of only 5,300 who qualify.

In a letter of support for the bill, NACA wrote, “Despite average pay increasing by nearly 70 percent, fewer Americans are pursuing careers as airline pilots. The Aviation Workforce Development Act will help increase the pilot supply in the near- and long-term by providing financial incentives, specifically making education expenses at FAA-certified commercial pilot schools and mechanic schools a qualified expense for 529 Qualified Tuition Plans.”

• READ MORE: Congress Urged To Boost Funding of Aerospace Education

But it’s not just a lack of pilots disrupting air travel. Aviation mechanics are in short supply. According to Boeing’s most recent report, to maintain the global commercial aviation fleet until 2040, the industry will need 626,000 new maintenance technicians. A major component in attracting more talent is investing in early education programs.

According to AMFA, “The aviation maintenance workforce is in sore need of new technicians. But for many, the cost of higher education is a significant challenge. By empowering students to use their 529 savings to pay for tuition and expenses at an aircraft maintenance school, the Aviation Workforce Development Act will help address the severe deficit of qualified aircraft maintenance technicians.”

Additionally, airlines, manufacturers, flight training education associations, and pilot and mechanic unions have all expressed support for the legislation.

“The Aviation Workforce Development Act is a common-sense proposal to give Americans who want to pursue a career in aviation, on the ground or in the air, the same tools as those seeking four-year degrees with zero increased cost to taxpayers,” according to Collins.

The post House Bill Aims To Boost Aviation Workforce Development appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Oh, what blissful ignorance we had. Little did I know, my beloved industry was about to embark on a wild ride. A few short weeks later, everything came to a grinding halt because of COVID-19, and life as we know it changed forever. What happened next is a story of uncertainty, tenacity, and innovative thinking.

How has aircraft maintenance changed since COVID? 

Aviation Challenges, Changes

A year after commercial aviation essentially stood still, my alma mater Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University published an online article entitled “Aviation Maintenance Today: Changes and Challenges” to discuss current challenges faced by aviation.

While the pandemic did not cause the following conditions, it rapidly accelerated and exacerbated the issue. Each of these would have come to pass, but not at the haste they do now. 

Qualified Personnel Shortage 

Aerospace management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, LLC, in February 2023, published an insight entitled “Not Enough Aviation Mechanics” to address the coming shortage in aircraft maintenance labor this decade. 

The shortage of qualified personnel is not breaking news. Those of us in aviation know the struggle to recruit, train, and retain technically-skilled labor. It would have made headlines regardless of the pandemic.

The airlines lost around 400,000 workers because of the pandemic, according to Forbes. In reality, many aviation entities, unsure of the future, allowed some of their talent to leave the company and the aviation industry. Many affected workers found new homes in high-tech, construction, or remote work opportunities.

New Aircraft Fleet Growth

Although the rapid decline of commercial airline travel received most of the media coverage during the pandemic, other business sectors continued to fly, and some even thrived during turbulent times. General aviation kept flying when governments shut the country down. There is nothing quite like sheltering in place with your Cessna 182 and finally getting that STC accomplished.

In all seriousness, corporate aviation is booming currently, and the forecast calls for more blue skies. Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier released performance numbers on February 9, and the “targets reflect the third consecutive year of steady growth.” Time to sharpen those Challenger 3500 ratings.

Experts say that business aviation will continue to expand upward through 2030 and beyond. This situation equates to more significant fleet sizes, newer platforms, and opportunities to obtain legacy airframes as companies modernize. Think about your company and its current fleet. What is the plan for growth?

Innovative Technologies

There’s an old adage that says, “necessity is the mother of invention.” This continues to ring true in the 21st century. Our world is rapidly changing. Those willing to embrace this will find ways to flourish in the new realm. Will this mean writers need to learn ChatGPT? That hurts my heart to type it.    

Traditionally electrical power lines had to be patrolled by ground crews or through the air using aircraft and helicopters. Now drones are getting the nod. At the beginning of this year, my hometown newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, posted an article about how a legacy aviation business is rebranding itself. Charter company Phoenix Air, based in Cartersville, entered the drone market and is looking to capitalize on the growing trend.

Speaking of drones, some people redirect their careers and creatively embrace this new technology. The New York Times posted a picture of Steven Ray Littles II, after leaving his job as a flight attendant, decided to turn his drone photography hobby into a business. Plato would be so pleased. 

Technical Training Trends

For decades the elders passed the knowledge to the younger generation verbally, in written procedures, and sometimes through mentoring and on-the-job training. The pandemic—and subsequent lockdowns—drove everyone inside their homes, and public gatherings were banned. The trouble was, people still needed to learn.

Fast forward three years, and life is beginning to reopen. Person-to-person learning is allowed, but some like the ability to learn remotely. While remote is advantageous for some, others prefer in-person.

Companies like the T-C-Alliance offer blended learning with both virtual and physical training. 

Aging A&P mechanics

Everyone gets old. I am reminded of this every time I stand up too quickly. The silver lining to your golden years is the ability to share hard-learned life experiences with the next generation. Dave Beauchamp, former director of maintenance at Atlanta Northside Aviation, would periodically come to the shop and help on intricate jobs. One time I hired him to assist in rebuilding twin Piper Navajo Colemill Panther conversion TIO-540-J2BDs.

To pay it forward, the National Business Aviation Association set up a mentoring network to help connect those interested in sharing knowledge. For more information, contact mentoring@nbaa.org. 

Mentoring is not a one-way event. Often younger mechanics fresh out of school can help us greybeards learn new techniques, processes, and maintenance practices. Have you ever seen a 30+ year veteran attempt to navigate an iPad? Trust me on this one.

The post Aircraft Maintenance and Weathering a Pandemic appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

When Stacey Rudser graduated high school, she didn’t know what she wanted to do for a career. She waited tables and worked in customer service for a couple of years. Realizing time was slipping past and she needed to “grow up and do something,” Rudser found herself searching the internet for how to be an aircraft mechanic.

Seeds planted by her Junior ROTC commander, who had served as an aircraft maintenance officer in the Air Force, and her time tinkering with a ’65 Mustang that her grandfather restored took root and she enrolled in airframe and powerplant (A&P) school. 

“I felt like maintenance was attainable. I knew it was a lot of reading, paperwork, and critical thinking, and those were all things that I really enjoyed. And then, getting to hit airplanes with hammers, who wants to say no to that? It’s great fun,” says Rudser, now an aircraft maintenance technician (AMT) at Thales in Orlando, Florida, and a director for the Association of Women in Aviation Maintenance (AWAM).

Upon entering A&P school, the gender disparity in the field struck her immediately. In fact, in 2009 she became the first woman to graduate from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Orlando, Florida, which opened in 2006.  

The 2021 U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics, a study published annually by the FAA, reports 2.62 percent of certificated aircraft mechanics are women (or 8,231), up from 2.56 percent (7,860) in 2020.

“We’re excited because we’ve [women] gained a partial percentage point,” Rudser says. 

According to Women in Aviation: A Workforce Report 2021 Edition, authored by Rebecca Lutte, the aviation occupation least represented by women is maintenance technicians, followed closely by airline pilots where women make up 4.6 percent of the workforce. Even more concerning, the growth rate of women in the career field is negligible. 

“Over a span of 60 years, the percentage of women commercial pilots has changed at a rate of about 1 percent a decade and mechanics have increased at about half that rate,” Lutte—an aviation workforce development researcher and associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute—writes in the report. Meanwhile, women make up 47 percent of the U.S. workforce, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020). 

Rudser is focused on changing this paradigm with her work both at AWAM, where she leads the scholarship and mentorship programs, and as a member of the FAA’s inaugural Women in Aviation Advisory Board (WIAAB), which is tasked with developing strategies to improve female recruitment and retention for the industry.

“I don’t ever expect to see women hit 50 percent of aircraft technicians, but 10, 15, 20, 25, somewhere in there,” says Rudser. “With the right outreach and frankly, with the right marketing, and then add in the right support…a culture change in the industry as a whole is going to drive a big shift in being able to sustain a diverse workforce.” 

Women Can Fill the Gap

With an aging workforce and airline travel demand that’s rebounded to a pre-COVID-19 fervor, the industry can’t afford to be exclusive. According to the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) 2021 Pipeline Report, 36 percent of AMTs are age 60 or older. Given the number of retiring technicians, attrition, and the predicted MRO needs of a growing commercial aviation fleet, ATEC projects a deficit of 12,000 technicians in the U.S. by 2041. And this deficit doesn’t account for the need for AMTs in the rotorcraft, business aviation, general aviation, electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and other new aviation segments. 

Rudser says women are a natural recruitment field to help fill the current and future demand for technicians. And there are positive signs that this is starting to happen. According to ATEC, AMT or A&P schools reported 11 percent of their 2021 graduates were women, up from a previous trend of 8 percent.

It can be a challenge, though, to retain women in the workforce. “I hate to say it,” Rudser says, “but there’s a huge attrition rate for women from the time they start A&P school.” 

Rudser cites long, inflexible work schedules, night shifts, and a discriminatory work culture “stuck in the 1950s” as challenges to retaining women AMTs.

Fighting Against the Culture

“Unfortunately, harassment and discrimination in the industry are still very real, problematic topics,” Rudser says. “For me, it’s ranged everywhere from microaggressions up to being sexually assaulted at work.”

Rudser left the industry for almost a year before getting a call from some friends—male allies—who had moved to a different employer. They encouraged her to come back, and she did. She also got involved with AWAM. Today, after working for more than a decade in heavy and line maintenance, including lead and supervisory roles, she’s back “in her toolbox” and running her own business, Rudser Aviation Consulting.

Her company, launched in the fall of 2021, offers aviation management consulting services, computer-based, aircraft-specific type training, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses for maintenance technicians. According to Rudser, educating the AMT workforce about DEI in a way that’s understandable and makes sense to them, and building a culture of allyship and sponsorship that supports women in their careers, are all part of the solution.  

But growing female representation in aviation maintenance starts with building awareness of the career. 

From Toolbox to C-Suite

“An overarching theme in the technician shortage of our industry, right now, is the fact that people are unaware of the career,” Rudser says. “You have this wonderful hive around an aircraft when you’re having that experience as a passenger; one of the components you just don’t see is maintenance…By nature, it’s supposed to be an invisible career.” 

This lack of visibility doesn’t help when it comes to attracting and recruiting new AMTs. AWAM is working to shine a spotlight on the career through its chapter outreach programs that target girls age 10 and even younger. Elementary school is a prime age, Rudser says, to introduce aviation maintenance as a career path, in order to counteract a larger societal issue where girls are discouraged from pursuing STEM fields. 

“What’s not being communicated well by guidance counselors, or two parents, is the fact that aviation maintenance is not the career that it used to be,” she says. “Yes, it’s a blue-collar job. Yes, it’s hands-on, but it’s so much more…There is a pathway from your toolbox to the C-suite.” 

And, Rudser says women bring unique skill sets to the profession that are needed, including a keen attention to detail for both the technical and paperwork sides of the job—and a humane leadership style. Aviation maintenance environments can be “rude” and autocratic; women with soft skills of communication and empathy introduce these qualities to an environment where it didn’t exist, she says. “It has changed the frontline culture where women are leaders.” 

Easing Financial Barriers

Working to improve accessibility to the career, AWAM partners with businesses to provide scholarships for women who are interested in or already working in aviation maintenance. There are scholarships that fund college tuition and others that pay for certification exams, tools, and technical training/familiarization courses. There are even scholarships for work pants and safety footwear. 

“It’s my constant goal to have as far reaching and robust a scholarship program to cover the whole person, not just tuition,” Rudser says.

This year, AWAM will award $82,254 in scholarships as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding at the Women in Aviation International (WAI) Conference set for March 17-19. 

JuliAnne Miller, a single mother and the only woman in her graduating class of A&Ps at Lansing Community College last August, says the scholarships she received from AWAM, WAI, and her college were instrumental to her success. The valedictorian of her class, she was also named the ATEC 2021 James Rardon Aviation Maintenance Technician Student of the Year. 

A fleet services compliance coordinator at Envoy Air, Miller isn’t done with her education. Shortly, she’ll be adding bachelor’s degrees in legal and policy studies and aviation science to her resume. Already a paralegal, she ultimately wants to marry the legal and technical sides of aviation to make a positive impact for aviation safety policy.

“Without the scholarships there’s no way I would have been able to go back and do it,” says Miller, who started A&P school after working jobs as a waitress and at a dog kennel while raising her daughter to age 16.

Amanda Colón, an aircraft support engineer at Textron (NYSE: TXT), says scholarships were what drew her to AWAM as well. She received three tuition/training scholarships, and funding that paid for her written and practical exams.

“Through their scholarships I was able to pay for all my tests to become fully certified and I was able to buy my first set of professional tools,” Colón says.

Mentorship Is Another Key

A member of AWAM since 2018, now Colón gives back to the organization as a mentor. “I have to. The industry has given me so much, and AWAM is awesome,” she says.

The mentorship program that Rudser spearheaded and leads pairs working professionals with AMT students or entry-career technicians. AWAM currently has 38 participants in the program. “Having those mentors and those resources are the biggest help in retaining the aviation workforce,” Rudser says.

Colón also supports women in the industry as a contributing author to Latinas in Aviation, a book and an organization focused on supporting women of Hispanic descent in the aviation industry. “All of the proceeds go toward the Pilotina project—to help other Latinas in the industry with scholarships,” she says. Some of her co-authors are now mentors for her. 

While working in a male-dominated field has its challenges, Colón says it’s all worth it in the end. “It’s a passion-driven job,” she says. “I don’t know where I’d be without aviation. And every woman I talk to, no matter if they’re flight, maintenance, or ATC, they all say the exact same thing.” 

It’s this passion that fuels Rudser’s efforts to support women in aviation through her involvement with AWAM, the WIAAB, and with her consulting company. “I’m not going to lie, a lot of times it can feel very quixotic, what we’re trying to do…but to see motion in the industry at large really feels great,” she says. Rudser, along with the entire WIAAB, will present a report to the FAA outlining strategies and recommendations to encourage and support women pursuing careers in the aviation industry during a public live stream on March 21.

The post Building Tomorrow’s Aviation Mechanic Workforce with Women appeared first on FLYING Magazine.