West Star Aviation Academy
Greg Napert and I recently flew down to West Star Aviation in East Alton, IL to celebrate the grand opening of Hangar 67 — West Star’s newest hangar. The hangar has been specifically designed to accommodate Gulfstream aircraft, and the company kept mechanics in mind throughout the design/build process. Efficiency has been the goal from the start, with everything the maintenance teams need at each location the aircraft will be parked including computers for quick access to electronic technical documents, electrical and pneumatic stations, and inertial reels on tracks overhead for fall protection. It is an impressive hangar, taking into account just about every detail to make mechanics tasks more efficient.
As part of the grand opening, West Star also celebrated the first graduating class of West Star Aviation Academy (WSAA). I was interested in learning more about WSAA, and I must say I was impressed with the program!
Many aviation companies are struggling to keep up with challenges in hiring and retaining aviation mechanics. Many repair stations hire people with technical ability to work under the supervision of FAA certified A&P mechanics. That’s the way I got my start 35 years ago. While this is a great opportunity for individuals to get their start in aircraft maintenance, it comes at a cost of taking time away from their A&P supervisors as they oversee each task the non-certified mechanics perform. West Star, like other FAA certified repair stations, used this process to groom future A&P mechanics.
At the graduation celebration of WSAA’s first graduating class, West Star Aviation chief people officer Katie Johnson shared how the concept of WSAA came about. “Almost two years ago, we sat in a conference room and I said, ‘Talk to me about what's going well with our apprenticeship program,’ and the attendees shared lots of great feedback. What I walked away with was three key insights. First, we have a shortage of licensed technicians. The industry has been talking about this for almost 10 years, and we have felt it — there is no denying there is a shortage. But the upside is that there's a lot of local talent that wants to work at West Star. The challenge that we learned through a lot of our key leaders and our key employees is that it takes a lot of time to go through the on-the-job program to become certificated by the FAA. In addition, it is very time-consuming and taxing on our senior level aircraft technicians, who are solely responsible for providing all of the on-the-job training. The third thing we learned, which was most eye opening is that our program lacked formal education. So, while we were hearing this feedback, we were processing and thinking through what can we do with this. We also learned from our involvement with the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) is that there is a shortage of people enrolling in school to become aircraft maintenance technicians. We also learned that of those who do enroll, the graduation rate is about 50 to 60% so we can't, as a company, rely exclusively on everybody else to solve the worker challenge.”
So, what did West Star do to help solve the challenge of the aircraft mechanic shortage? It launched WSAA. Working with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic opportunity, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, and Southwest Southwestern Illinois College, WSAA was launched. WSAA is a partnership with Southwestern Illinois College, which has a Part 147 A&P program. West Star dedicated a classroom and hangar for its WSAA. They retired the company’s corporate jet and dedicated it for WSAA for hands-on learning for the students. It also has tool boxes for each student for all their training.
There are 25 student apprentices in each class of WSAA. They are paid while attending WSAA. The initial phase includes 7 ½ months of classroom and practical training. After that time, the student apprentices take their General and Airframe tests with the FAA. Upon earning their Airframe certificate, the apprentices undergo further training with West Star, at which time they are hired as airframe mechanics at West Star. Sonic Tools also provides a voucher to all graduates to help then get a start on purchasing their tools.
So, what does it take to become a WSAA apprentice student? First, potential students submit applications online and complete pre-screening assessments. Then qualified candidates are scheduled for onsite interviews. Finalists are selected and receive a contingent employment offer (graduates agree to work for West Star for three years. If they choose to take another job, they agree to pay for the cost of training). Upon acceptance of the contingent employment offer, they start their employment/training at WSAA.
To understand how much demand there is for students wanting to join WSAA, there were more than 1,000 applicants for the first two classes at WSAA. That amounts to around a 2.5% acceptance rate for each class. This year, Harvard had 54,000 applicants with 1,974 admitted — that amounts to around a 3.6 percent acceptance rate. It seems like the demand for potential students at WSAA is greater than at Harvard!
This seems to be a win-win for West Star. First of all, they are selecting the best of the best to enter the program. During the students’ apprenticeship/work, they are learning about the West Star culture and are also learning about teamwork and professionalism, working alongside West Star mechanics as opportunities present themselves along the way. West Star then has dedicated entry-level airframe mechanics ready to hit the ground running. Another benefit is that Southern Illinois College’s Part 147 school is close to West Star's East Alton, IL location. Graduates can choose to attend school part time while they are working at West Star to get their Powerplant certification which will open up more doors in their aircraft maintenance career!
To learn more about WSAA, visit https://www.weststaraviation.com/wsaa-academy/.
Thanks for reading!
Joe