Piedmont Airlines recently donated a Pratt & Whitney PW120A turboprop engine to Delaware’s Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance (PSAM). The donation keeps alive the legacy of the De Haviland of Canada Dash 8 and allows student maintainers to coach on an actual PW120A turboprop engine.
Piedmont Airlines invests in “profession training”
Piedmont Airlines announced the donation of a Pratt & Whitney PW120A turboprop engine formerly utilized in a Piedmont Airlines de Haviland Aircraft of Canada Dash 8-100. The regional airline used the Dash 8-100 between 1993 and 2017, and divested itself of the Dash 8-300 the next yr, hence it had no further have to hold onto the engines for airline operations.
Photo: Piedmont Airlines
But as Piedmont Airlines CEO Eric Morgan shared within the July 7 statement,
“At Piedmont, we firmly imagine in the ability of workforce development opportunities that provide resources in helping to shape the long run of aviation. We take great pride in donating an engine to Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance, knowing that it’s going to function greater than just a bit of apparatus. It symbolizes our commitment to excellence and our desire to take a position in profession training within the communities during which we live and work. By providing these students with the chance to achieve practical experience, we are usually not only shaping expert professionals but additionally making a pipeline of talent for the long run.”
That is the seventh engine donation since 2018 by Piedmont Airlines. The airline is currently hiring mechanics. Below you possibly can see a Piedmont Airlines YouTube profiling its mechanics:
Finally, the airline is offering promotions after only six months of successful Piedmont Airlines employment. That is coupled with free travel on the American Airlines global network for immediate family and friends, amongst other advantages.
Helping get up the subsequent generation of aircraft maintainers
As there may be a requirement for 402,000 aircraft maintenance technicians globally by 2032, any investment in a pipeline for aviation maintainers is seemingly a very good one. Congresswoman Blunt Rochester hailed each the donation and the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance, saying in her statement that,
“Like many industries across our economy, the aviation industry continues to feel the impact of workforce shortages of expert employees. On this case, it’s a shortage of qualified pilots, mechanics, and technicians. What the Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance is capable of offer its students is a pathway to gaining the talents, tools, and resources they should tackle 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 his or her investment in Polytech through this turbo propeller engine, and I look ahead to seeing how it’s going to help support Polytech’s role in strengthening aviation through innovation.”
In an identical move, last November 2022, as Alaska Airlines’ regional airline Horizon Air was within the technique of retiring the mighty Dash 8-400 (aka Q400), a whole Q400 airframe with engines and avionics was donated to Portland Community College. The donation, based on Alaska Airlines, was to assist create a pipeline of future aircraft technicians.
A missing engine to Polytech School of Aviation Maintenance’s program
The importance of the donation may be very clear, as Jeremy McEntire, Assistant Director of Adult Education at Polytech, explained why the college is “very grateful to Piedmont Airlines”:
Our students are required to learn about these engines and shall be tested on them for his or her FAA exams. Until now, the most effective we could offer was tell them about them and show them photos online. That is nice, but not the identical. This engine is a game changer for our students and our program.
In other words, the engine donation provides tactile learning or works with one’s hands. The last word goes to Senator Chris Coons;
“Due to Piedmont Airlines, this latest turbo propeller engine will provide students at Polytech’s Aviation Maintenance Program a critical educational advantage. … How do you define an engine? An engine is something that transforms potential into forward movement. Within the case of a jet engine, something that takes off.”
How does tactile learning assist you learn the way to make things better? Please share with civility within the comments how.