Summary
- Allegiant Air is celebrating diversity during Hispanic Heritage Month and goals to bring more diversity to the aviation industry.
- The airline highlights pilots like Captain Jesus Campuzano, who encourage and mentor others to pursue their dreams in aviation.
- Allegiant has recruitment pathways to diversify its workforce and supply high-paying opportunities to underrepresented populations within the industry.
US carrier Allegiant Air is celebrating diversity as a part of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September fifteenth to October fifteenth this yr. The aviation industry has historically been predominantly white, with Hispanic pilots making up only a small percentage of the industry’s workforce. Allegiant is on a mission to bring more diversity to the workplace and help people in underrepresented communities achieve their dreams of working within the aviation field.
Bringing the main target to its pilots
Considered one of the initiatives the airline has implemented to mark the occasion is highlighting its pilots who encourage and help others to pursue their dreams. One such pilot is Allegiant Captain Jesus Campuzano. Campuzano, who also works as an Airbus instructor at Allegiant’s Las Vegas training center to assist others achieve their dream, fell in love with airplanes at an early age. He became determined to change into a pilot after attending an aviation expo together with his parents at age 17. He highlighted just how essential mentorship is for the industry:
“It’s really great because I used to be mentored once I was young. It was so essential because that path guided me to where I’m today. It’s great to listen to other students after they come back after they’re done with their training and saying how they’ve learned, how much they enjoyed the method.
“It’s just very essential that individuals who’ve dreams in whatever diversity or culture they’re in, they pursue them, especially on this era where there’s a necessity for pilots.”
Photo: Ryan Fletcher I Shutterstock.
Campuzano previously flew for a regional airline but selected Allegiant because it allowed him to spend more time together with his family versus overnighting in other cities.
What’s the carrier doing about it?
The Las Vegas-based carrier has long worked to supply opportunities in aviation to all members of society and sought to diversify its workforce through various recruitment pathways, corresponding to attending events corresponding to one hosted by the Latino Pilots Association later this month. The airline highlighted the undeniable fact that workforce diversity is healthier for aviation and humanity as an entire to Easy Flying. It emphasized that it continuously seeks to supply high-paying opportunities to underrepresented populations.
The worldwide pilot shortage has been making headlines over the previous few years, and travel demand rebounds and airlines struggle to manage. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an annual shortfall of about 17,000 pilots, and the shortage is currently predicted to achieve as high as 30,000 pilots inside a decade. That is compounded by the undeniable fact that almost half of airline pilots within the US are inside 15 years of the FAA’s mandatory retirement age of 65.
Photo: Denver International Airport
The airline has three pathway programs to recruit, hire, and train pilots. Its Speed up program works with university students entering their senior yr. The scholars might be hired on as a cadet with a conditional job offer as an Allegiant first officer (which comes with worker perks like pass travel on Allegiant flights). Once the cadets reach their required hours of flight training, Allegiant sponsors their attendance in an Airline Transport Pilot Certification course and takes them on as First Officers once accomplished. Allegiant’s Altitude and Military Pilot Pathways are also designed to assist pilot students overcome barriers they face entering the sector.
The carrier’s efforts don’t stop at those able to enter flight school or transition to civilian aviation. Allegiant recently partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to fund academic initiatives and develop programming that can introduce children and teenagers to varied STEM-related aviation profession paths. The partnership began at a neighborhood Club in Las Vegas and is ready to achieve not less than seven other cities Allegiant serves over the subsequent two years.
Recent research shows that students usually tend to pursue STEM majors in higher education if introduced to those topics in grade school.