Jun. 1—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — There's never been a better time to seek a career in aviation, according to industry leaders.

A small crowd gathered Wednesday at the upper hangar of the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport for an Aviation Workforce Opportunities panel discussion, a part of the The Aerium Summit conference and trade show.

Among the few high school students in attendance was 17-year-old Jonathan Suarez, the Philadelphia School District's first student to earn a private pilot's license through the Frankford Aviation Academy at Frankford High School.

"I want people to know age is not a restriction," Suarez said in an interview after the panel discussion, which he took in attentively.

Suarez said he plans to continue his education to fly for airlines or become a designated pilot examiner.

The discussion was moderated by Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce President Amy Bradley. It included executives from Navmar Applied Sciences Corp., Compass Systems Inc. and SkyWest Airlines.

"Statistics show we need 148,000 pilots and 132,000 aviation maintenance technicians in the United States by 2040, so there's lots of opportunity," Bradley said.

Suarez, whose school serves many low-income and first-generation American students, said his training was fully funded by his school district, which has been building the aviation academy for the past six years.

That type of program should spread across Pennsylvania vocational-technical schools said panelist Raymond Rose, President and CEO of Compass Systems.

At Compass' site in Richland Township filled with autonomous robotics, the business is hiring avionics engineers, technicians and software systems engineers.

Historically, learning to fly has been expensive, the panelists said.

"Everybody had opportunity to learn to drive a car in school; wouldn't it be wonderful to have the opportunity to learn to fly?" Rose said. "Ultimately, that should be an option. Hopefully, people can push those buttons and get industry to think, 'Yeah, that makes sense. It's just another class, another option.'"

The panelists discussed aviation jobs in demand, not only pilot jobs but drone operators with skills in thermal imaging, 3D mapping and data acquisition as well.

"There is a growing need across industries from agriculture, construction, logistics delivery and the medical field for organ transport," said panelist Michael Johnson, FAA-certified UAS remote pilot and co-founder of Aerial Systems Group International Inc.

Johnson's company provides a pathway for aviation jobs to be filled, he said.

The aviation industry involves a host of workers including corrosion control technicians, electrical technicians and avianics technicians. There is a gamut of positions that need to be filled, the panelists said.

Uncrewed aircraft are built at Navmar Applied Sciences Corp., 1778 Frankstown Road. That segment of the aviation industry is also growing, panelists said.

Navmar Director of Business Development and Marketing Brett Bormann said he is excited about what the future will bring for beyond visual line of sight operations for automated aircraft.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing restrictions ease so flights can be made for organ delivery, long-range-type supply delivery, and with companies that are U.S.-based like Amazon, all the package delivery stuff, you are going to continue to see that go further and further," Bormann said.