Piedmont Airlines and PIA Launch New Tuition Program to Boost Student Access to Crucial Job Field

To help bridge the gap between the needs of employers and the skills of emerging job seekers, a new partnership seeks to take its commitment to the talent pipeline one step further to help eliminate the financial challenges that deter some promising students from enrollment, Piedmont Airlines and Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) have developed a new Piedmont Technician Tuition Program to attract new talent to the high-demand field of aviation maintenance.

The program provides qualifying students at PIA campuses in Hagerstown, MD, and Myrtle Beach, SC, with full tuition assistance and job offers to become Piedmont aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) even before these students begin their classes at PIA.

The partnership’s goal is to remove the financial barriers and job search uncertainties that may deter some students from entering the field of aviation maintenance.

Both Boeing and the U.S. Department of Labor have identified aviation mechanics as a crucial career whose current rate of retirement is not being offset by new entrants to the field. According to the Boeing Technician Outlook, the aviation industry will require 626,000 new maintenance technicians to join the global workforce between 2021-2040, with 132,000 of those technicians needed in North America alone.

The PIA–Piedmont program is unique in making job offers to students at the onset of their 16-month training while also funding their studies. By doing so, Piedmont and PIA hope that qualifying students will feel free from the stress of student loan debt and employment uncertainty, and thus will be better able to focus on excelling during the training itself.

"The Piedmont Tuition Payment Program is an amazing opportunity that helps remove financial barriers for those interested in the aviation maintenance field,” says Jessica Weney, Senior Recruiter Maintenance Tech Ops for Piedmont Airlines. “The program sets each candidate up for success by funding their studies and certification fees as well as providing them with a career after completion.”

Up to five students can be chosen per term at participating locations and can be offered the opportunity to join the program after their application is reviewed. Piedmont will offer the selected students a conditional offer of employment for two years upon their graduation from the program at their location. Students who fulfill the requirements of the program entirely will only be responsible for payment of their books and living expenses while attending school.

“PIA is proud to work with Piedmont in creating this new on-ramp that matches students who dream of working in aviation with the financial aid and job security they need to make that dream a reality,” says PIA President and CEO Suzanne Markle. “The students who qualify to participate in the Piedmont Technician Tuition Program can fully invest themselves in their studies and enhance their ability to contribute meaningfully to the aviation industry from day one of their work at Piedmont.”

The Piedmont Technician Tuition Program is the newest effort in PIA’s ongoing outreach and communication strategy with various U.S. aviation employers. PIA’s admissions department also continues to work with Piedmont on various student recruitment efforts including classroom presentations, open house participation, career fair involvement, and student and faculty field trips to airports and Piedmont facilities.

“By sharing insights from both educators and employers with potential students, PIA and Piedmont have been working together for over a decade to demonstrate that a career in aviation maintenance is highly impactful and rewarding, and now the Piedmont Technician Tuition Program makes that career even more attainable,” says Roxanne Ober, Director of Admissions and Outreach at PIA.