Albany airport, HVCC team up to train future aircraft mechanics, technicians
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COLONIE — With more than half the nation's commercial pilots over 55 years old, airlines will be scrambling to fill those jobs in coming years. But it's not only pilots that will be in short supply. "That same demographic holds true for the mechanics" who keep those airliners aloft, said Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
And filling those jobs will also be a challenge.
On Thursday, McLaughlin and other officials gathered to announce a new Aeronautical Technology Institute that will occupy a 12,000-square-foot hangar at Albany International Airport. The institute, a joint effort with Hudson Valley Community College that was first proposed by airport CEO Phil Calderone, will train aircraft technicians in a two-year program that will qualify them for jobs that can pay as much as $40 to $65 an hour.