Honda Aviation and GTCC will hold a job fair in October to give workers their first chance to apply for HondaJet employment and training to make HondaJets beginning in 2010 .
No firm date has been set, but it will likely happen in the middle of October, said Ed Frye, chairman of GTCC's transportation systems technology division .
Honda will screen individuals at the event, taking applications and working with state JobLink and other work force groups to do hands-on and written testing, Frye said. Some of the testing will check an applicant's skills in certain work processes, for example.
The screening is for direct aircraft work only. Honda has asked others to apply at www.honda.com and follow the "careers at Honda" button.
Honda plans to hire up to 300 workers, but Frye declined to say how many jobs will be available through the job fair .
Those selected must first enter GTCC training programs at the T.H. Davis Aviation Center to learn specific Honda technology and Honda's business culture.
"They want folks to go through this training," Frye said. "It doesn't matter if you're already an experienced aircraft mechanic."
The first training class in airframe and power-plant mechanics begins in January, he said, and will last for two years .
If the students selected for the training are successful, they will become Honda employees, Frye said.
Other courses will last from eight to 15 months and could involve a variety of specialties . Frye said his best estimate that such workers as component installers, structural specialists, avionics installers and interior specialists will be trained at GTCC. But Honda is still fine-tuning the training it wants.
Honda received approval from Guilford County inspectors this week to begin construction on its headquarters at Piedmont Triad International Airport. It is currently working on Federal Aviation Administration certification of its jet, which it expects to begin delivering in 2010 .
Frye said he gets dozens of calls a day about potential Honda jobs, so "the anticipated pool of applicants is going to be large."
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or [email protected]
nHondaJet will screen sometime in October the first employees it plans to hire for its new aircraft.
