Pierpont Community & Technical College's aviation center at nexus of aerospace conversation
Aug. 11—FAIRMONT — Airports and aviation industry members are pleased with the state's investment in Pierpont Community and Technical College's upcoming $25 million aviation center.
One official applauding the move is Joel Kirk, director and chief instructor of the Robert C. Byrd National Aerospace Education Center. However, he does have a caveat.
"Every aspect of aviation right now is desperate for personnel," he said. "There's not one that's more lacking than the other. So everywhere there's a need. The problem is that aviation should be seen holistically."
The conversation around how resources should be allocated to develop the aviation industry here in North Central West Virginia reveals much about its current state and where it's going. In a state where flatlands are a commodity, aviation brings in $1.1 billion to the region. Several large names in aerospace, such as Boeing, Mitsubishi, Pratt and Whitney and others, are present at the North Central West Virginia Airport. This creates a demand for skilled aircraft technicians, which local centers of learning must do their best to produce.
Kirk believes that tackling the challenge of meeting aerospace industry needs in the state requires an approach driven by passion first. He drew a comparison to the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels team.
The team is an important asset for the Navy because it is a recruitment tool. Although not everyone gets to fly the fighter jets, it allows those who sign up to get excited about what they're going to work on. It reveals what the bigger picture is and provides the opportunity to be a part of it.
"Let's say you had an ex-Navy retired aircraft mechanic in the crowd," he said. "He's saying, 'Hey, I worked on that. I was a part of that. I drove rivets into an F-18. I built the engine for that.' They don't take their kid down to the factory and show him the engine. Kid doesn't know what it is, it's not on an airframe, it means nothing."
Although Kirk thinks Pierpont's new building is a good development and arguably necessary, he is curious why the flight program at Fairmont State hasn't received similar attention.
He also fears that divorcing aircraft maintenance from the magic of flight could lead to a burnout situation in the labor force in the future. His two current airframe and powerplant technicians left the industry due to dissatisfaction with the nature of shift work, often clocking 16 hours a day. Kirk called it the new coal mine. He believes there should be options.
"What you want to do is expose people to the aerospace industry and then let them gravitate to what they love," he said. "But if you try to make people into things, it never works out. They hate their job."
Tracy Miller, president of the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex in Bridgeport, has the responsibility of keeping a finger on the aviation industry's pulse. As someone who occupies a niche place in the aerospace community, she does her best to tend to the economic concerns of the companies she works with. If one of her existing employers has a need, that will take precedence over everything else.
"Industry here needs Part 147 aviation maintenance technicians," she said. "Absolutely equal and parallel to that is the need to have people training pilots. And that mission for the people training is vital, 100% as important. But their mission isn't at all related to what industry needs. Those are two totally separate conversations, in my opinion."
However, that does not mean that conversation is mutually exclusive and is in fact, related to one another. They are different pieces of the same goal, which is to advance the aviation industry here in West Virginia. Pierpont and Fairmont State University are addressing different pieces of that goal.
Which is why Kevin Blaney finds it frustrating that even though Fairmont State's flight program fills an important need, it doesn't get the support from the state he believes it needs.
"We can't get any notoriety out of it. It seems like Marshall gets multi-millions of funding. We can't even get $1 million."
For now, regional airports are happy that Pierpont will be graduating 70 more FAA certified technicians in the next two years for a total of 200 students a year. Former Fairmont mayor Tom Mainella said having that many new graduates will be beneficial to the economy. Many of them end up working at the Bridgeport airport. Some are even hired at Frankman Field in Fairmont.
"Pierpont, given the money to do this new school, is going to keep North Central West Virginia growing and it's gonna give us the ability to expand our aerospace footprint," David Hinkle, chairman of Pierpont's board of governors, said. "And it's really exciting."
Ultimately, what puts Miller and Kirk rowing in the same direction is making it possible for local residents to make themselves part of the magic of flight, whether it's flying or working in the maintenance bays. They are each distinct, yet important pieces to making that happen.
"Aerospace is a huge factor, we don't want to limit it in West Virginia," Miller said. "We want to continue growing it. We want to continue redefining it. We want to continue expanding our training and workforce and we want everybody doing whatever they're doing to promote aviation in West Virginia."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
