Leaders Celebrate St. Francis Aircraft Maintenance Program's Debut at Johnstown Airport

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – As a crowd celebrated the debut of St. Francis University’s aviation maintenance technician program Thursday at Johnstown’s airport, hands-on learning tools for students were evident.

But it wasn’t just the hangar-turned-classroom, the single-propeller aircraft or the 1,500-pound-plus CF34 jet engine that had officials excited.

They were also excited about the local aviation workforce the program will help create, said Larry Nulton, of airport fixed-base operator Nulton Aviation Services.

With students already taking classes behind the scenes, local, state and federal leaders gathered at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Richland Township to mark the St. Francis program’s startup and the opening of the Aviation Education Center.

This “workforce development initiative will create pathways into secure, well-paying and family-sustaining jobs ... in only 21 months,” said the Very Rev. Malachi Van Tassell, president of St. Francis University.

He said that those who complete the program will be qualified for careers with pay starting at $50,000 annually and up.

Nulton Aviation Services and St. Francis University partnered over the past two years to create the 21-month aircraft maintenance training program, aiming to develop a homegrown workforce and bolster local aviation jobs at a time when there is a national shortage of aircraft repair technicians.

Qualified program graduates would be able to pursue jobs in both general and commercial aviation. That includes careers through program partners SkyWest Airlines and Lockheed Martin, as well as fields outside the aviation industry, the program’s organizers said.

‘Not just the engines’

Nulton said the hope is that the new program will soar much like a previous St. Francis partnership at the airport. A pilot training program grew from a handful of students in 2018 to 85 trainees today.

Both programs are aimed at keeping local youths living and working in the Johnstown area.

That unique workforce also could create more opportunities for the region, said Nulton and state Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R- Richland Township.

Langerholc described the Johnstown airport-St. Francis partnership as a launch point into a “$34 billion aviation industry.”

Nulton cited airport officials’ ongoing goal to recruit a large-scale aircraft maintenance and repair facility on the airfield.

“But we don’t have the workforce to support it yet,” said Nulton.

That could quickly change, however, he said.

According to St. Francis officials, the five students starting this fall are the first of a growing number who have already applied to start classes in the coming year.

As time progresses, incoming classes of students will be able to begin the program in the spring, summer and future fall semesters before completing their work 21 months later, according to program director Brianna Pavkovich.

The goal is to grow the current one-instructor program to have a larger staff, with five instructors overseeing classes and up to 125 students progressing through the various stages at any one time.

Graduates will be qualified to test for the Federal Aviation Administration general, airframe and powerplant certificate required to work in the field, Pavkovich said.

“They’re going to be trained to work on every part of an aircraft,” she said, “not just the engines.”

‘Come out with a trade’

Local officials applauded Thursday’s milestone, saying it will help ensure airline safety and bolster the community.

“Aviation is our strength. Aviation is our future,” Langerholc said, pointing to Johnstown airport-focused pilot and drone deployment efforts that are also underway.

Langerholc, state Rep. Jim Rigby, R- Ferndale, and Cambria County Commissioners Thomas Chernisky and Keith Rager each cited the potential of “good-paying” jobs for the program’s graduates.

“Students are going to go to college and come out with a trade,” Rigby said.

Van Tassell said the Loretto university has been embracing outside-the-box ideas for decades to support career needs in Cambria County. He said then-St. Francis College’s entrance into health care education back in the 1970s set a course for the school’s success in the decades that followed.

The aviation technician program will only cost a fraction of a four-year degree’s cost, he added.

State Department of Community and Economic Development and Federal Aviation Administration officials also attended Thursday’s event.

FAA Allegheny Flight Standards District Office Manager Wendy Grimm said the program’s presence will be felt in the skies. Aircraft maintenance technicians “literally have our lives in their hands,” she said – they are relied on to keep aircraft operating safely.

The aviation education center was built inside a Fox Run Road hangar through a $500,000 state grant secured through Langerholc; $1 million in Appalachian Regional Commission funds; and $70,000 from Cambria County to support the education center’s structural needs.

Nulton, Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority Chairman Rick McQuaide and Van Tassell all credited a broad collaboration between private and public organizations and bipartisan leadership to carry the project forward.

Chernisky said all sides recognize the “ripple outward” a thriving aviation ecosystem can bring.

“It takes collaboration and teamwork ... and in the end, we’re getting things done,” he said.

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