2023 Aviation Workforce Development Grants Awards
The FY 2023 recipients of the Aviation Workforce Development Grants, under funding opportunities 22-FAA-AWD-AP and 22-FAA-AWD-AM, will help educate the next generation of aviation professionals across the United States in rural, suburban, and urban areas. A total of $10 million in grants were awarded. See the lists of ⇣ Aircraft Pilot and ⇣ Aviation Maintenance Technical Worker grant recipients in the tables below. You can also view the FY 2022 grant awards.
Zoom in and select a location on the interactive map to see the Aviation Workforce Grants recipients. You may click on the list view ( 
) or full screen ( 
) options for additional details. Grantees are marked as recipients of either Aircraft Pilots grants (
) or Aviation Maintenance grants (
).
Aviation Workforce Development Aircraft Pilots Grant Awards
| Recipient | Location | Project Description | Grant Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Foundation Institute | Frederick, MD | Project will enable Train-The-Trainer program to expand the Teacher Professional Development Opportunities project. The proposal will allow the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Foundation Institute to deliver professional development to teachers across the country who are using the AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Curriculum. | $498,100.00 |
| Black Pilots of America | Seattle, WA | Project will administer the Red-Tailed Hawks Flying Club, a chapter of Black Pilots of America whose mission is to introduce underserved and underrepresented youths to the world of aviation and engage students’ minds in practical applications of STEM. Each component of the project will help inspire and create the next generation of aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, and unmanned aircraft systems operators by one or more of the following: (1) Execute existing curriculum to introduce students to aviation and its engineering principles; (2) Directly fund flight training and aerospace scholarships for students; (3) Build out a network of Certified Flight Instructors to train students; and (4) Outreach to communities to encourage continued support and enrollment in the project for future years. The Black Pilots of America plan attracts pilots, engineers, teachers, aviation enthusiasts, and benefactors to manage and perpetuate increased capacity of the pipeline activities and STEM challenges beyond the grant period of performance. | $500,000.00 |
| Broward College | Pembroke Pines, FL | Project will establish drone leagues and competitions to engage high school students to pursue aviation careers and lay the foundation to address the pilot workforce shortage. Broward College will organize a regional drone competition to stimulate more interest in aviation and related careers to help create needed pipelines for future and next-generation pilots. Participants enrolled in the Drone Racing Operations and Navigation Education (DRONE) project will be dual-enrolled in the course, be prepared for the drone pilot ground training (FAA Part 107) exam, and earn an industry credential. | $500,000.00 |
| Colorado State University | Fort Collins, CO | Project will support the development of the aviation pilot workforce. The program includes an all-inclusive on-campus unmanned aircraft systems aviation summer program. The Colorado State University plan documented goals for a successful certification of FAA Part 107, introduction into the UAS aviation workforce pipeline, and introduction to traditional manned aviation for participants. | $345,711.00 |
| Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Daytona Beach, FL | Project will develop both a UAS program and ground school flight program, which is planned to result in portable, cost-free training curricula for schools nationwide. A small group of high school students selected to participate in a model program designed to provide education in flight, UAS operations, and aerospace engineering. | $484,803.00 |
| Kentucky Office of Employment and Training | Frankfort, KY | Project will give high schools and aviation businesses across rural, urban, and suburban Kentucky access to a high-quality curriculum that will bridge the “final mile” from high school to the aerospace industry. | $500,000.00 |
| Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals | Mount Royal, NJ | Project will expand its existing Explore Aerospace Program, developed in 2020, to offer consistent programming for youth interested in careers in the aviation industry and provide resources to deepen students’ knowledge of aviation and aerospace. The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals will enhance and deliver existing program curriculum and develop additional 24 weeks of curriculum to expand learning focus areas in aviation maintenance and unmanned aircraft systems. | $171,231.80 |
| School District of Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA | Project will comprise two pathways: private pilot training with the opportunity to earn a pilot license and drone training to earn an unmanned aircraft systems operator license. Both pathways offered to Frankford High School students through scheduled classes during the regular school day and at no cost. The overall objectives of this project are to (1) increase the number of historically underrepresented minority students pursuing a career in aviation, and (2) increase student enrollment in the Aviation Academy at Frankford High School. | $197,180.00 |
| Sling Flying Club | Torrance, CA | Project will recruit and train local high school students as private pilots, high school students as unmanned aircraft system pilots, and will provide professional development for teachers to educate teachers about careers in aviation, particularly professional pilots and UAS pilots. The private pilot program will leverage the existing well established program, which is an FAA Part 141-approved program. | $499,865.00 |
| Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum | Detroit, MI | Project will educate and train UAS operators and aircraft pilots. Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum will develop and deliver an aviation curriculum that includes all mentioned fields of aviation. Their approach includes technical and core competencies, life skills, and education needed for students to pursue and thrive in a career. | $500,000.00 |
| University of Virgin Islands | St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands | Project will support new enrollment opportunities and program establishment. The new endeavor aims at servicing the underserved population of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and their program will expose over 10,000 Virgin Islands high school students to aviation pursuits. Additionally, the program will provide students with aviation career paths, career days, social and aeronautical events, drone and flight demonstrations, presentations, guest lectures, simulation days, aviation days, airport field trips, and preliminary flight experience days at U.S. Virgin Islands airports. | $499,301.00 |
| William Jessup University | Rocklin, CA | Project will attract, orient, and educate Sacramento-area high school students on the basics of aviation, resulting in at least 100 indicating a desire to continue training in some aspect of aviation. The proposed program will provide participants with the theoretical knowledge required, opportunities for hands-on experiences, and lists of occupations utilizing aviation-related skills and knowledge. The grant program dovetails with existing strategies for recruiting students into the aviation multi-degree program, which will attract and prepare young people for the aviation fields. | $303,808.20 |
Aviation Workforce Development Maintenance Technical Workers Grant Awards
| Applicant Name | Location | Project Description | Award Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aviation Technical Services, Inc. | Everett, WA | Project will support careers in aviation maintenance for graduating high school seniors through apprenticeship programs. Approved apprenticeship and training programs support introductory unskilled and displaced workers, as well as military veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce. The project trains apprentice (introductory) airframe mechanics and develops aircraft mechanics through classroom and on-the-job training. | $459,206.29 |
| Cape Cod Community College | Plymouth, MA | Project will create a pathway for high school students to begin their journey to become a certified aviation maintenance technician starting in junior year of high school and add a National Center for Aerospace and Transportation Technologies/Aircraft Electronics Technician Avionics Certification Program that will produce 24-48 certified avionics technicians per year. | $463,304.00 |
| Cincinnati State Technical and Community College | Cincinnati, OH | Project will work to expand its aviation maintenance technician training capacity, but there are some urgent needs that this grant would meet, including: Adapting a newly piloted aviation maintenance technician training program for urban high school students, adding and/or updating vital aviation maintenance technician training equipment for program expansion, and expanding overall regional outreach about aviation maintenance technician career options. | $423,594.00 |
| F & E Aviation Maintenance | Miami Springs, FL | Project will identify new resources for recruitment and expedited training with a specific focus on transitioning military and veterans and; start an Airframe and Powerplant school at Cincinnati International Airport, in partnership with Epic Flight Academy and offer scholarships to underserved applicants. | $500,000.00 |
| Fulton Leadership Academy | East Point, GA | Project will collaborate with the Fulton Leadership Academy and Aviation Institute of Maintenance to create a dual enrollment aviation maintenance technician program for high school students. The Fulton Leadership Academy will develop and deliver an aviation maintenance technician program, expanding on the Aviation Institute of Maintenance’s existing program, with a focus on educating the next generation of students from underrepresented and communities of color. The program will include the technical and core competencies and life skills education needed for students to pursue and thrive in a career as an aviation maintenance technician. | $500,000.00 |
| Lincoln Land Community College | Springfield, IL | Project will seek to diversify student enrollment, enhance the offerings within the Lincoln Land Community College Aviation Mechanics Program, and increase the number of students with the FAA credential to address the shortage of the aviation maintenance technical workforce. | $500,000.00 |
| Nashua Community College | Nashua, NH | Project will develop, promote, and deliver an industry-aligned competency-based aviation technology training program for New Hampshire. | $456,051.00 |
| Pearl River Community College | Poplarville, MS | Project will recruit, develop, train, and maintain a steady pipeline of middle-skill workers capable of supplying the growing aviation maintenance landscape in and around south Mississippi, using a multipronged approach. | $500,000.00 |
| San Luis Obispo County Community College District | San Luis Obispo, CA | Project will establish an aviation technical training program, in partnership with the County of San Luis Obispo and Aviation Consultants, Inc. (operating as ACI Jet) that addresses workforce demand and leads to jobs with a livable wage. Aerospace and aviation technician training is limited in the region, and the closest programs are cost prohibitive. | $484,299.00 |
| Tarrant County College District | Fort Worth, TX | Project will support a new collaborative effort to recruit, train, and potentially hire high school students for employment as aviation maintenance technicians. The program, Bombardier/Tarrant County College District Aviation Maintenance Technician Gateway Program, will focus on students located in the Fort Worth area schools. The activities proposed are part of a complete project. | $282,345.71 |
| Technical Education Services | Norfolk, VA | Project will support outreach for careers in the aviation maintenance industry to secondary school students and communities underrepresented in the industry. The Aviation Institute of Maintenance seeks to establish a dual-enrollment program, including a scholarship program for high school students in the communities they serve. The project will support the expansion of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance’s National Veterans Resource Center located at the Norfolk, campus and expand the offering of its Professional Military Certification Course program on military bases. | $431,200.00 |
Last updated: Thursday, March 14, 2024