I’ve just returned from my first day at EAA AirVenture as I pen this. Out of all the events I attend for AMT, AirVenture is probably the best at showcasing the unique appeal and excitement aviation offers, with a crowd of industry professionals, aviation enthusiasts and the larger aircraft-curious general public all coming together to celebrate. It’s all great fun.
This year, AirVenture comes off the back of the work we’ve been doing here at AMT for our 40 Under 40 awards. You’ll have no doubt noticed this year’s winners gracing the issue’s cover. Like Oshkosh’s annual event, our annual award shines light on aspects and areas of the industry perhaps otherwise out of the general public’s mind. For me personally, it’s a chance to pick the brain of some of the industry's rising stars and not only learn their story, but how they’re engaging with and viewing the industry.
One of the through lines that kept showing up in conversations with this year’s Top 40 class was the concern many in the industry have for the future – finding the talent to replace the retiring generation of maintenance professionals and how to salvage the knowledge they have before they’re gone.
The winners this year had a new take on how to attract that talent. They didn’t think there needed to be a greater push towards STEM subjects or trades, most of our winners were always mechanically and scientifically minded people, but what they needed was to know how to get into aviation. They said things like they obviously knew somewhere in the back of their mind growing up that people took care of aircraft, but never thought it could be them until they discovered one way or another that it could be them.
The overwhelming consensus was we need to show people aviation is possible for them. Some of our winners are taking that into their own hands, returning to their old schools to share what they do or running social media accounts to showcase their work. They are doing what they can to show that anyone can do what they do.
As a movie buff, it reminded me of the epiphany that I had as kid. The directors, actors and writers that I idolized were just regular people. Their jobs might appear impossible for regular folks like me, but there’s no mythical gatekeeper letting some people in over others. They just picked up a camera one day and kept going until they got to be where they wanted to be.
And so I wondered, as I walked around AirVenture, how many people, young and old, in the crowd just needed to have a similar aha moment. How many kids watching the airshows that day knew they could be part of them in the future? There’s nothing stopping them from flying or fixing aircraft; they just need to know that they can.
