AOPA
SCHOLARSHIPS
ARE NOW OPEN
APPLY THROUGH
FEBRUARY 11, 2022
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association has opened
applications for its latest round
of scholarships that are made
possible through donations to
the AOPA Foundation, and are
a major benefit to AOPA members,
helping them reach their
aviation goals.
The program offers the opportunity
for more than 100 high
school students, teachers, primary
flight training students,
pilots seeking advanced ratings
and certificates, and aspiring
aircraft mechanics to score
more than $1 million in scholarship
funds.
The primary training scholarships
include sport, recreational,
or private pilot certification; the
advanced training scholarship
includes the instrument rating
and higher certification levels;
and additional scholarships can
be applied toward aviation maintenance
technician certification.
Scholarship awards range from
$2,500 to $14,000.
Apply here: https://www.
aopa.org/training-and-safety/
students/flight-training-scholarships
AIRPORT V 4 OICE, NOVEMBER 2021
Where is Everybody?
Workforce staffing is hard to find
BY JEFF YAPALATER
Listen to the companies at the airports.
Workforce is hard to find. Where is
everyone? How and why is this happening?
It is paradoxical that there is a surge
of buying by many despite the apparent
lack of employment by many. This is not
just an airport phenomenon but it exacerbates
the weakened supply chain so dependent
on a manual oriented workforce.
High unemployment benefits were
the suspect in keeping people at home
during the summer but with cessation of
extra dollars, people are still not coming
back to fill the lay-off hole that exists
since early 2020.
Companies across the board are offering
minimum starting salaries in the
hi-teens per hour, and adding a $2000-
3000 sign-on bonus, but still not enough
workers are applying for jobs.
Reasons for the lack of workers universally
held by recruiters include:
-Burnout-tedious and physically exhausting
-Empowerment- time for reflect on
what is important in work like
-Moved to other type of work not as
demanding
-Desire to work at home
-More schooling during pandemic
leading to better jobs
-More people living at home or roommates
-Day care issues requiring mom and
or dad to stay home
-Covid clouding mentality creating
confusion and inertia
-Earlier retirement and social security
benefits. . In the past two years the
retirement number has ballooned by 3.5
million.
-Entrepreneurs creating niche services
-Disproportionate fascination with social
media creating a false sense of life
-Increased immigration restrictions
for first time workers
Old school workers scoff at the idea
that some of these reasons are legitimate
not to work. They may blame society
in general for the lack of work ethic
or millennial mentality or entitleism for
the shortage of workers. “They just don’t
want to work. “This belief may be partly
true but a small piece of the puzzle.
Is It is not only hard being able to find
workers but once hired, getting many
past the obstacles of vetting is another
problem. At airports, security is tight before
actually beginning a job. One goes
through a background check, fingerprinting,
drug test, and basic testing for
how to conduct oneself at the airport and
knowing breaches of security. Employers
sigh at the high percentage of failure (50-
75%) by workers to pass all the requirements.
Compounding this with the actual
recruitment weakness currnently leaves
many companies shorthanded and
cargo and goods remaining out of reach
of consumers, thereby raising shortages
and higher cost of goods.
Recruiting may need to think out of
the box and need to acknowledge the
appetite for personal satisfaction, more
flexibility and diversity of a job to attract
more workers. Amazon speaks to these
ides with its television commercials as
well as offering subsidies for education.
But the attitude of working is not confined
to the hourly worker. Reports from
all levels of employment confirm the disappearance.
In New York City, the daily
office commute is becoming a thing of
the past for many workers. Out of the
city’s 1 million office employees, only
28% had returned to in-person workplaces
as of October, according to a
Partnership for New York City survey,
with fewer than half planning to return
to their desks by January. Hundreds of
employees at Hearst's magazine division
protested a mandatory return to the office,
with souring opinions of in-person
work prompting employers to contemplate
downsizing office space and reducing
NYC-based staff.
Will we get back to normalcy or has
the covid cloud or pandemic exhaustion
had an unforeseen sea change in how
work is seen as part of life? Is it brick
and mortar vs. digital transition of the
workforce? Will we solve the workforce
problem quickly to mitigate product and
good shortages? Will the workforce, as
we have known it for decades come to
an end? Only time and resourcefulness
will tell.
JAL, partner in Termonal One, celebrates 55 years flying into JFK Airport. On hand was management of JAL thanking staff, giving passengers gifts and special signed baseballs by former
Yankee star, Hodeki Matsui. In the photo are: Mr. Kiyoto Morioka-Senior Vice President, Americas, Mr. Masaya Akegawa-777-300ER captain, Mr. Hideki Matsui-NY Yankees special GM advisor,
Mr. Steve Rowland - Executive Director Operations, Terminal One Management, Mr. Frank Fujii- VP, Regional Manager of Eastern region, Ms. Maki Kyota-Chief cabin attendant
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