Piedmont Airlines donates engine for Polytech students in Dover
DOVER, Del. – A retired De Havilland Dash-8 engine made its way via a donation from Piedmont Airlines to the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance, one of Polytech’s adult education programs, at an event today in Dover.
The new engine provides additional opportunities for Polytech to offer its students hands-on access to the kinds of technology on which they’re training to build a career. The turboprop engine will complement the jet turbine engine the school already owns, and will allow Polytech’s next class of seven enrolled students a chance to work with an engine on which they will be tested before receiving their certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Like many industries across our economy, the aviation industry continues to feel the impact of workforce shortages of skilled workers. In this case, it’s a shortage of qualified pilots, mechanics, and technicians,” said Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, who attended the event with Delaware Senator Chris Coons, highlighting their national push for workforce development.
“What the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance is able to offer its students is a pathway to gaining the skills, tools, and resources they need to take on in-demand jobs in aviation technologies – helping us address the shortage while investing in our workforce, our economy, and our nation. I thank Piedmont Airlines for their investment in Polytech through this turbo propeller engine, and I look forward to seeing how it will help support Polytech’s role in strengthening aviation through innovation.”
“Our students have to be tested on it, they have to know it, they have to understand how they work. and in the end, when they take their FAA exams, it’s one thing to look at it online and for us to show them pictures, it’s something entirely different for them to be able to touch it with their hands on it and see it,” said Polytech Assistant Director of Adult Education Jeremy McEntire.
Piedmont Airlines tells 47ABC that it was a donation they were thrilled to make, especially as it helps to secure their own workforce for the future.
“In Salisbury, which is just 45 miles away, we have 88 individuals that are going to be retiring in the next 10 to 15 years, that is about 40% of the workforce in Salisbury retiring, overall for the airline, 33% of my workforce will be retiring, and who’s there to replace them,” said Piedmont Airlines, Aircraft Maintenance Director Kurt Yorgey adding that he is excited to see younger people have a passion for aviation.
Today, we take great pride in donating an engine to the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance, knowing that it will serve as more than just a piece of equipment. It symbolizes our commitment to excellence and our desire to invest in career training in the communities in which we live and work. By providing these students with the opportunity to gain practical experience, we are not only shaping skilled professionals but also creating a pipeline of talent for the future,” said Piedmont CEO Eric Morgan.
Polytech and Piedmont are some of the partners working to connect Delawareans to careers in the aviation sector, which currently has high demand for more workers at high salaries.
“These are good paying jobs, and it’s really important for people to know here’s a chance to get some training and not have it be like four years, ten years. But you can be out there working and getting paid and supporting your country and the economy,” Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester said.
They say they hope to be able to graduate the students, and keep them local to the area as they pass their FAA certification.
