By: Aidan Kelley There is nothing wrong with working a normal office job. However, if you’re anything like myself, you tend to lean towards more hands-on work. In recent years, the aviation industry has exponentially grown, and will continue. This gives people who love working with their hands a perfect chance to get into the industry and become a technician. No school may be more equipped to give high school graduates this chance than Forbes’ Number One two-year trade school, the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. Why should you become a technician? Not only does it give you many opportunities to expand your career once you have established yourself within the industry, but you can also go back and learn new things to add to your certification. An AMT Certification, or an aviation maintenance technology certification, signifies proficiency in airframe and powerplant skills. This acts as your ticket into the industry. Within the next decade, Boeing predicts that North America alone will need 125,000 new commercial technicians in order to satisfy the rapidly growing industry. Since they need so much, you will be needed in order for businesses to operate efficiently, which will help with job security. What is in it for me? Besides the good starting pay, you aren’t just limited to working in the aircraft industry. Other industries, like the military, museums, aerospace, surgical hospitals, and many more hire aircraft technicians. You get to work anywhere in the world, too. Since the aircraft industry is expanding, you can help people stay safe while flying wherever you go. How do I start? There are many places to go to start your aviation journey, including the National Aviation Academy in Tampa Bay, FL and Concord, Mass. However, the one that stands out the most is the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics. The first time I heard of this trade school was during my sophomore year when PIA hosted a presentation at Glenelg. I would be lying if I said I was sold the first time around hearing about it. However, not too much longer after that, my dad had mentioned to me about a friend’s son who went through the program. During this time, I was struggling to find where I should turn to after high school ends. Eventually, my dad heard about an open house PIA was hosting at their branch campus in Hagerstown. So, we made a plan to attend it and see what we would be getting ourselves into. It would be an understatement to say that we were just interested in the program. After hearing them talk about the school, the courses, and what we would be doing after the 16-month program, my dad and I were hooked. For 16 months, you’ll be given hands-on experience by working on turbine engines, metallic structures, composite materials, and other systems that are used to make aircrafts safe for their passengers. As an AMT, you will diagnose, repair, and maintain the systems that were designed and kept in place to ensure the efficiency, the safety, and the accuracy of the plane. You will log around 1,900 hours of time spent doing projects designed to prepare you for your aviation career. In that time, you’ll go through varying courses to prepare you for your future job, including aerospace math and basic electricity in semester one and build up to courses like landing gear systems and aircraft inspections in the final semester. And like any school environment, there are exams. At your time at PIA, your instructors are preparing you to take your A&P, an FAA Airframe and Powerplant certification, Exam. These exams are completed in order to assess your knowledge to make sure you are qualified for inspecting aircraft. These exams include three different sections, General, Powerplant, and Airframe. Each of these separate sections have their own oral, practical, and written assessment. Before you graduate, you take your general exam and either the powerplant or airframe. You take the last one of the two you didn’t take post graduation. If you were like me trying to find out where to go after high school and like the idea of a life working with your hands, then PIA might just be the perfect place for you. addendumLike any other postsecondary education, going into community college, a university, or a trade school, you’ll find yourself nervous of the new atmosphere and anxious of the problems you’ll face once you’ve found yourself enrolled. At the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA), and like any other educational institute, you will be required to overcome financial and academic hurdles.
One of the many ways PIA attempts to alleviate such worries are through the various partnerships they have with fellow airline companies. These partnerships help students with tuition, tools for their education, and even scholarships or a place to go after they graduate from the institute. Some of these partnerships that they have include: Delta Air lines: During their partnership with PIA since 2017, they have aided the institute with training equipment to help with the education of their students. On top of that, they have created video resources to support aviation training and recruitment into the trade school. With this exposure to recruitment, there are more people finding their way to PIA, and one day, will contribute to the high demand of technicians needed in the aviation field once they go through the program. United Airlines: They became a PIA partner in 2023, where they founded the Calibrate Technician Pathway Program. The program allows for students to be given a paid apprenticeship where they are given hands-on guidance and training in the aviation industry. In order to remain in the hiring pool for United AIrlines after graduation, you must maintain a good attendance record and GPA. PSA Airlines: PSA became a PIA partner in 2019 through the Maintenance Student Pathway they formed. With this program, you are given advancement opportunities and priority access to base assignments. PSA encourages students in the PIA program to participate in mentorships. Piedmont Airlines: Piedmont Airlines became a partner with PIA in 2019, where they established the Tuition Pathway Program. Applying to their program and being accepted allows students to have their tuition paid for, and on top of that the tools required to do their job. What Piedmont expects in return is for you to work for them for 2 years after you graduate. This guarantees you a job and 2 years of work experience that you can put on your resume.
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