How UMES' upcoming aviation technician program at Salisbury airport will fill a major need
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore fist bumped Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano on his way into give a speech at Salisbury University last week, but what united the pair of first-year politicians of different parties was a promising partnership at the airport six miles down the road.
“We are just finishing up a hangar that has been repurposed from Piedmont (Airlines),” said Giordano, a Republican, referring to the county's $3.3 million project during a phone interview on Friday. She said the plan for the repurposed hangar is to provide it on loan for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to run a program to train aviation maintenance technicians, a well-paid profession that is increasing in demand.
Moore, a Democrat, visited the Salisbury Regional Airport on his 100th day in office back in late April, and Tony Rudy, the airport’s director, highlighted the nascent program in a pitch for funding.
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The airport, second most in the state in commercial passenger boardings behind only Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, is awaiting federal funds to start a roughly yearlong runway extension construction project.
In a Sept. 1 phone interview, Rudy said he anticipates the first round of federal funding for the runway project to come “within the next few weeks or so,” with construction to follow and an expected completion by 2025.
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The hope of the county executive is that state funding could also be attained and used to expand the airport, creating a new facility for the university’s airframe and powerplant licensing program.
“We’re asking for right around $14.3 million for a brand-new hangar for the school, and then Piedmont would then reabsorb the hangar that they had originally given us,” she said.
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Currently, the only Federal Aviation Administration approved aviation maintenance technician school in the state is the Hagerstown campus of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, where a few dozen graduates come on to work in Salisbury. Earlier this year, that school announced it received $750,000 in federal funding to tack on a 10,000-square-foot addition to its hangar.
No end date for the Salisbury hangar’s use has been given by the company, said the former Wicomico County Public Schools English teacher Giordano, as they have a need for the students.
Shortage of aviation mechanics in Salisbury
“We wanted a way of attracting local talent,” said Kurt Yorgey, director of aircraft maintenance at Piedmont Airlines. “(The) airline has struggled with employing mechanics in Salisbury.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that about 13,100 openings for aircraft and avionics equipment mechanics and technicians are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
Those openings are not for lack of a competitive salary. In 2021, the median annual pay for aircraft mechanics and service technicians was $65,550, the Bureau reported.
Retirements are the concern.
“We’re going to lose somewhere around 25% of our workforce in the next 10 to 15 years due to retirements,” said Yorgey, who started in Salisbury with the company 40 years ago.
Del. Carl Anderton Jr., R-Wicomico, who embraced Moore on Tuesday, before the executives' fist bump, called the potential partnership program at Salisbury Regional Airport “amazing.”
“It’s a feeder to get into the industry right here in Salisbury,” he said, during an Aug. 31 phone interview.
Program is pending with Federal Aviation Administration
Chris Hartman, an associate professor and program coordinator in the aviation program at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, said the curriculum for the one-year program is designed.
Yorgey said the hangar’s floor has already been painted with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore insignias and engines for training have already been delivered.
Now, the two partners are waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration certification for the program.
“That’s where the holdup is,” said Yorgey, who estimated the federal administration has over 500 pending applications. The Federal Aviation Administration did not respond to a request for comment before this article was submitted.
To help planes get off the ground at the airport and for safety, the technicians are needed.
“We’re hoping to have (the program) ready by the spring semester,” said Rudy, the airport director, “where we have our first group of students actually start.”
Politicians and private entities communicated for partnership
Cohorts are set to be about 25 students, and the county executive said she anticipates the school to produce about 75 graduates per year. At each step, she has kept the governor in the loop about the program's progress.
“We were actually walking on the Boardwalk talking about it,” said Giordano, referencing one of Moore’s visits to local government conferences in Ocean City this summer. “As long as he is willing to take my phone calls, or take my text, or respond, or meet, and he has been, we’re going to continue on.”
A spokesperson for Moore did not respond to a request for comment before this article was submitted.
The pair of public officials have private entities, whose involvement predates either politician’s election, to thank too.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Hartman called Salisbury-Wicomico Economic Development Executive Director David Ryan “(an) absolutely integral part of making this partnership happen.”
Rudy, too, praised Ryan’s organization.
“They’ve been really instrumental in bringing the parties together and figuring out how we get this done,” he said. Ryan did not respond to a request for comment before this article was submitted.
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Piedmont’s Yorgey pitched his company’s tuition payment program, which pays for students’ tuition and training in return for a multi-year work commitment with the organization.
“This deal with UMES is really going to be a great opportunity for the local people,” he said. “They’ll be able to live at home, they’ll be able to go to school, and then their job would be right in the same place.”
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: How this UMES program will transform Salisbury's airport, fills need
