Mt Sac Caloifornia Beef Unit Address
When folks at Ontario International Airport and Ontario City Hall noticed aviation jobs — including airline pilots — were falling behind demand for air travel, they reached out to Mount San Antonio College.
But instead of just asking the school to increase enrollment in its accredited aeronautics program, they did something never done before. They brought the college to the airport.
A new class took flight, Careers in Aviation or AERO 98 is being taught on the airport grounds on Saturday mornings through June. The class introduces students to aviation careers, later funneling students into more advanced classes held at the Mt. SAC campus in Walnut and at Brackett Field Airport in La Verne. The college is one of two in the state with certified Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative programs.
Mt. SAC instructors are using a conference room at Ontario International Airport Authority's headquarters on Avion Drive for classroom learning. They're also giving students field lessons at ONT locations, including: Guardian Jet Center, a private charter service; commercial airline operators at passenger terminals and ramps; air freight companies such as Fed-Ex, and the airport's fire department. All are providing students a hands-on learning experience, instructors said.
"It (ONT) is a great field laboratory to expose students to what is going on," said Mike Tracey, one of the class instructors. "When they get a chance to walk around a corporate aircraft (at Guardian) their eyes pop wide open. When they get out on the tarmac and hear a 737 taking off it really excites them."
Ontario City Council Member Debra Dorst-Porada, along with Alan Wapner, also on the City Council and president of the OIAA, helped bring about the new class, the first-ever taught at the airport.
"We thought it would be fun to hold them at the airport; it might increase participation," said Dorst-Porada.
"Our (passenger) numbers are starting to climb at the airport," she said. "Yet, you have pilot shortages, mechanic shortages and TSA-people shortages. We didn't have enough people to fill those positions."
Tracey, an Upland resident who has worked in the aviation industry before becoming a college instructor, also teaches a class on the history and economics of the airline industry. He has heard about airline staffing levels declining, in part brought on by a wave of retirements during the COVD-19 pandemic, he said.
"There is definitely a shortage of pilots," Tracey said. "The airlines have to trim their schedules because they don't have enough flight staff to staff the planes. Meanwhile, travel is growing. So people are needed to fill these jobs to serve the customers and run the airlines."
The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this week that half of all licensed airline pilots are within 15 years of retirement age. Acute shortages were reported in December and January when many pilots and flight attendants called in sick due to the coronavirus omicron variant.
United, Delta and American airlines need to add 1,000 pilots each by the end of this year or into 2023, the Denver Post reported in December. Many airlines, including Delta and Southwest, are establishing their own pilot training courses to beef up future staffing and provide more "on the bench" pilots, especially if new variants cause more sickness among employees.
The FAA is hiring 1,020 air-traffic controllers this summer, noted Robert Rogus, co-chairman of the Aeronautics Department at Mt. SAC. A shortage of air traffic controllers has been an issue even pre-pandemic.
The college's program has been in existence since 1946 and is the largest of its kind in the state. In 2021, the program awarded 115 Associate of Science degrees in aviation, Rogus said.
Mt. SAC's aeronautics programs include pilot training, as well as equipping students for on-ground airport jobs such as air traffic control, airplane dispatching, airplane maintenance and airport operations, he said. The AERO 98 class, currently with about 15 students, explains the different jobs found at an airport.
"Aviation is one of those areas where the public only knows about pilots," Rogus said. "They may not realize there are all these other jobs — and these are $100,000-plus jobs." Aircraft mechanics earn $43-$46 an hour starting wage, he said.
Dorst-Porada helped arrange for Mt. SAC to teach a class within Chaffey College's district. Chaffey only has one class in aviation, in aircraft mechanics. "We reached out to Mt. SAC because they have so many different aviation programs," she said.
"We want our airport to be successful. We want them (graduates) to work at Ontario Airport," she said.
Source: https://www.dailybulletin.com/2022/05/02/airline-pilot-shortage-prompts-college-aviation-course-at-ontario-airport
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