Taking Flight:
Education and Training for Aviation Careers
Report Highlights

In the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, Congress directed the Department of Education to enter into appropriate arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study of civilian aviation training programs. Congress wanted the study to discuss the implications of military downsizing for both training capacity and workforce diversity in the aviation industry. Specifically, Congress was interested in ways to increase the access of women and minorities to civilian aviation jobs, particularly high-skilled jobs as pilots and aviation maintenance technicians ( or "aircraft mechanics").

In 1993, 101,000 people earned their living as pilots and 139,000 worked as aircraft engine mechanics. Women and minorities are vastly underrepresented among pilots and aircraft mechanics. In 1990, 92 percent of pilots and 76 percent of aircraft mechanics were white men, compared with 43 percent of the civilian labor force. Less than 2 percent of pilots were black, less than 3 percent were of Hispanic origin. In 1990, 3.5 percent of pilots were women and 4.7 percent of aircraft mechanics were women.
Historically, the military has been an important source of trained professionals, especially pilots, for commercial aviation. The major carriers have relied on the military for about 75 percent of their pilots. As expected, the military's aviation-related workforce is not noticeably more diverse than the civilian aviation workforce.

The implications of military downsizing and the capacity of civilian training institutions.

The NAS committee concludes that military downsizing will not lead to a shortage of qualified pilots or maintenance technicians. The committee believes that civilian training will be able to meet aviation labor market demands based on the demonstrated ability of the training sector to adapt to changing needs. The committee believes that collegiate aviation will become the major source of training because it has the potential to produce pilots and technicians specifically trained to standards recognized by commercial carriers.

Approximately 280 postsecondary institutions offer nonengineering aviation programs in such fields as flight education, maintenance, and airline management education. The collegiate pathway is already the major training route for certified aviation maintenance technicians and is likely to become a more important training source for pilots.

Despite the fact that the collegiate pathway has been important for maintenance technicians and will be increasingly important for pilots, collegiate aviation programs have been largely ignored by industry. They have been guided primarily by basic Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations governing schools that offered training for flight and maintenance technician certification. Thus, collegiate aviation programs have developed in widely disparate ways for many years. There is no professional accreditation of collegiate aviation programs and airlines have had little way of knowing, other than through firsthand acquaintance with particular schools, what specific training aviation graduates have received. Student have had little way of knowing which schools' curricula were most likely to lead them to the jobs they wanted.

With regard to civilian training, the committee recommends the following:

• Collegiate aviation programs support the development of a system of accreditation- similar to that found in engineering and business.

• The commercial aviation industry support development of an accreditation system as well as provide more sustained and consistent support to individual aviation programs.

• The FAA facilitate school-industry cooperation and the development of an aviation accreditation system.

• The FAA review its training and certification requirements to ensure that they support rather than hinder the efficient and effective preparation of aviation personnel.

Improving the Access of Minorities and Women to Aviation Careers.

The committee concludes that the challenge of improving diversity in aviation must be addressed along three dimensions:

Dimension #1: Efforts must be made to develop the interest of individuals from underrepresented groups in undertaking aviation careers. Most aviation outreach activities focus on precollege age groups, thus missing the opportunity that exists for outreach and support in the collegiate institutions that enroll significant numbers of minority and women students in aviation education programs.

The committee recommends the following:

• The aviation industry, airlines and other employers work aggressively to build linkages with the aviation programs at historically black colleges and universities and other schools and colleges with large minority and female enrollments.

• Industry work in partnership with state and private groups and the FAA to maintain basic aviation education and information services.

• The FAA and its parent agency, the Department of Transportation, reconsider their decision to cease providing (at no cost) basic information on the aviation industry and career opportunities that can be used by other aviation agencies and organizations to promote interest in the field.

• The responsible agencies and groups work to create more accurate public understanding of aviation careers and acceptance of the technical education needed to prepare for them.

Dimension #2: There must be equal opportunities for minorities and women to develop the basic academic competencies to successfully pursue aviation careers if they choose.

Black, Hispanic, and American Indian children continue to complete fewer advanced science and mathematics courses by the time they graduate from high school than do Asian-American or white students. (Peng, S.S., D. Wright, and S. Hill., 1994; National Science Board, 1996). Differences in course-taking patterns are related to school characteristics: location, type and size, and socioeconomic status and ethnic status of the student body.

The committee recommends the following:

• Support efforts to improve the general preparation of elementary and secondary school students in mathematics and science and stress the continuing need to focus special attention on improving opportunities for and the academic achievement of minorities and women.

• Those responsible for specialized aviation programs at the K-12 level collaborate with larger systemic efforts to improve educational performance.

Dimension #3: Any remaining barriers must be addressed that formally or informally have a disproportionate effect on the ability of minorities and/or women to pursue aviation careers if they have the interest and the basic academic competencies.

• Financial obstacles to training. Serious financial obstacles may exist between initial flight training and employment by an airline. Student loans are not available to finance the many hours of flight time that pilots must accumulate after college to be ready to apply for an airline job. These jobs generally require at least 1500 hours of flight time and a minimum of 250 hours of multi-engine time. Pilots who must pay to fly multi-engine planes can face per hour flight costs between $150 and $300. A tight labor market for pilots has allowed some airlines to require that pilot candidates themselves pay additional training expenses that once would have been paid by the company. Such training can cost $10,000 or more.

• Little information on how pilots are selected for civilian employment. The committee found that little information is available in the public domain about how pilots are selected for civilian employment.

• Possible vestiges of discrimination. Like other industries, aviation also has to shatter the so-called glass ceiling -- the invisible, artificial barriers blocking women and minorities from advancing up the corporate ladder to management executive level positions.

• Establish financial assistance programs to help applicants for pilot positions meet the costs of flight and transitional training. The committee thinks that the aviation industry should take the lead in this effort. Employers might consider making grants or loans to individuals in training programs or donating funds for financial aid to collegiate aviation programs.

• Airlines formalize and publicize their hiring criteria so that schools can develop appropriate programs of study and individuals can make informed decisions about training and career paths.

• Airlines examine their selection criteria and use procedures consistent with the best available knowledge of job tasks and effective crew performance.

• Continue efforts, vigorously led by top officials, to root out any remaining vestiges of discriminatory behavior in aviation training institutions and aviation businesses and to provide a favorable climate and truly equal opportunities for all individuals who wish to pursue careers in the aviation industry.

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