Aircraft Maintenance Technology’s 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professionals Awards is by far my favorite issue of the year. The pages are filled with fresh eyes and young minds entering the workforce and who will be driving aviation forward and making big changes in the next couple of decades.
In this industry of aircraft maintenance, the bulk of the players are 50-plus years of age, which was highlighted this year during AMT’s Annual Readership Survey. A Whopping 83% of our respondents were between the ages of 50 and 70-plus. Less than 1% were 18-24, only .25% answered between 25-30 and 4% were 31-40.
Now, we all are aware of the workforce shortage that is looming over our heads. However, this year, AMT received 200-plus nominations for our 40 Under 40 campaign, which is more than quadruple the number of entries in years past. This gives me great hope that we are on the verge of a major increase in young people in this industry. Our youngest winner is a mere 23 years old!
The younger generation of aviation professionals are as hungry and eager and dedicated as they come, as our 40 Under 40 Awards pages show, starting on page 10.
We would like to take this time to announce our newest assistant editor and part of our entire Aviation Group team, Jessica Purgett, who is part of the next generation and 40 under 40 crowd.
While working to finish up my column on a Saturday afternoon, I caught Jessica working on her day off, reviewing our 40 Under 40 section, at that. She had mentioned she was somewhat bored and decided to make good use of her time and get some work done. The young truly are restless.
Purgett recently graduated summa cum laude from Mount Mercy University, where she majored in English and marketing while she minored in Spanish and creative writing. During her four years at Mount Mercy University, she edited the school's literary magazine, the Paha Review. For three of those years, she was the lead editor, working to produce a yearly publication of creative writing by Mount Mercy University students. In her senior year, she received the Sister Mary Xavier Award for Creative Writing due to her dedication to the magazine.
At Endeavor Business Media, she will assist the lead editors of Airport Business, Ground Support Worldwide and Airport Maintenance Technology. Welcome aboard Jessica.
Congratulations to all of our 2020 40 Under 40 Maintenance Professionals Award winners and to all those who were nominated. We look forward to watching you grow with your careers and advancing the techniques and technologies that this industry has. You are the future of aviation. Take it seriously, take it as a challenge, and take us to the next level.
Jennifer
