[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

BRIDGING THE GAP: IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND
INCLUSION IN THE U.S. AVIATION WORKFORCE

=======================================================================

(117-22)

REMOTE HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON
AVIATION

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

__________

JULY 20, 2021

__________

Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
transportation

__________

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
48-209 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022

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COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DON YOUNG, Alaska District of Columbia
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BOB GIBBS, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois JOHN GARAMENDI, California
JOHN KATKO, New York HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
BRIAN BABIN, Texas Georgia
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina DINA TITUS, Nevada
MIKE BOST, Illinois SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas JARED HUFFMAN, California
DOUG LaMALFA, California JULIA BROWNLEY, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania MARK DeSAULNIER, California
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
Puerto Rico SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee GREG STANTON, Arizona
DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
NANCY MACE, South Carolina CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
MICHELLE STEEL, California CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana

Subcommittee on Aviation

RICK LARSEN, Washington, Chair
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
DON YOUNG, Alaska ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
JOHN KATKO, New York NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin Georgia
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania DINA TITUS, Nevada
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota JULIA BROWNLEY, California
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey MARK DeSAULNIER, California
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
NANCY MACE, South Carolina ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas GREG STANTON, Arizona
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
MICHELLE STEEL, California CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania, Vice
SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio) Chair
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
District of Columbia
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
JOHN GARAMENDI, California
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex
Officio)

CONTENTS

Page

Summary of Subject Matter........................................ vii

STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Washington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation, opening
statement...................................................... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Louisiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation,
opening statement.............................................. 5
Prepared statement........................................... 11
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, opening statement.............................. 12
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 65
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas, prepared statement............................. 65

WITNESSES

Rebecca Lutte, Ph.D., CFII, MEI, Associate Professor, Aviation
Institute, University of Nebraska at Omaha, oral statement..... 14
Prepared statement........................................... 16
Claudia Zapata-Cardone, Executive Director of Community Relations
and Outreach, Latino Pilots Association, oral statement........ 22
Prepared statement........................................... 23
Icema D. Gibbs, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility
and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, JetBlue Airways, oral
statement...................................................... 25
Prepared statement........................................... 26
Joel Webley, Chairman, Board of Directors, Organization of Black
Aerospace Professionals, oral statement........................ 29
Prepared statement........................................... 31
Kyle J. Kaiser, President, VIPER Transitions, oral statement..... 33
Prepared statement........................................... 35

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD

Submissions for the Record by Hon. Garret Graves:
Prepared Statement of Mark Baker, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.. 7
Prepared Statement of Faye Malarkey Black, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Regional Airline Association...... 66
Article entitled, ``Key Lawmaker Quizzes Airlines on Delays,
Worker Shortages,'' Associated Press, July 17, 2021, Submitted
for the Record by Hon. Tim Burchett............................ 49

APPENDIX

Questions from Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson to Rebecca Lutte,
Ph.D., CFII, MEI, Associate Professor, Aviation Institute,
University of Nebraska at Omaha................................ 73
Questions to Icema D. Gibbs, Vice President of Corporate Social
Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, JetBlue
Airways, from:
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson................................... 75
Hon. Nikema Williams......................................... 76
Questions to Joel Webley, Chairman, Board of Directors,
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, from:
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson................................... 77
Hon. Nikema Williams......................................... 78

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July 16, 2021

SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER

TO: LMembers, Subcommittee on Aviation
FROM: LStaff, Subcommittee on Aviation
RE: LSubcommittee Hearing on ``Bridging the Gap:
Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation
Workforce''
_______________________________________________________________________

PURPOSE

The Subcommittee on Aviation will meet on Tuesday, July 20,
2021, at 11:00 a.m. EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building
and virtually via Zoom for a hearing titled, ``Bridging the
Gap: Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation
Workforce.'' The hearing is an opportunity to learn from key
stakeholders about the challenges with, and their
recommendations for, developing a robust and diverse U.S.
aviation workforce. Further, this hearing will examine future
workforce needs and current efforts to recruit, retain and
enhance the talent pipeline, including requirements under the
FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, and other related workforce
priorities. The Subcommittee will receive testimony from
representatives of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation
Institute, the Latino Pilots Association, JetBlue Airways, the
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, and VIPER
Transitions.

I. BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on the U.S.
aviation industry. Demand for commercial air travel plummeted
last year as coronavirus cases surged, with U.S. airlines
carrying 557 million fewer passengers than in 2019.\1\ The
growth of aviation manufacturing was also hindered by the
pandemic; by the end of 2020, the value of aircraft deliveries
declined by nearly 15 percent.\2\
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\1\ Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Full Year 2020 and
December 2020 U.S. Airline Traffic Data, (March 2021), available at:
https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/full-year-2020-and-december-2020-us-
airline-traffic-data.
\2\ General Aviation Manufacturers Association, GAMA Announces 2020
Year-End Aircraft Billing and Shipment Numbers, (Feb. 2021), available
at https://gama.aero/news-and-events/press-releases/gama-announces-
2020-year-end-aircraft-billing-and-shipment-numbers-2/.
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Although still not back to pre-pandemic levels on a
consistent basis, air travel appears to be rebounding, as more
Americans get vaccinated against the virus and public health
restrictions begin to loosen. Last month, the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA) screened an estimated two million
passengers in one day for the first time since March 2020.\3\
Further, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that
the major airlines carried 46.6 million passengers in April
2021, compared to 3 million in April 2020.\4\
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\3\ Ian Duncan, TSA screens 2 million people for first time since
coronavirus lockdowns began, Washington Post (June 6, 2021), available
at https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/06/12/tsa-
screens-2-million-people-first-time-since-coronavirus-lockdowns-began/.
\4\ BTS, U.S. Airlines April 2021 Passengers Increased 9% from
March 2021 (Preliminary), (June 2021), available at https://
www.bts.gov/newsroom/us-airlines-april-2021-passengers-increased-9-
march-2021-preliminary.
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As the nation works toward long-term economic recovery and
proposed infrastructure investment may foster emerging
technology and create jobs, Congress must ensure the U.S.
aviation industry has a pool of workers that reflects the
diversity of the nation, benefits all regions, and has the
skills necessary to compete globally.

II. STATE OF THE U.S. AVIATION WORKFORCE

A. LACK OF DIVERSITY

The United States is a highly and increasingly diverse and
multicultural country. Unfortunately, the U.S. aviation
workforce does not reflect the diversity of the nation as a
whole and overwhelmingly comprises substantially more men than
women. For instance, studies show that women are
underrepresented across the aviation industry, with the largest
employment gaps seen in technical operations and leadership
positions.\5\ Currently, the percentage of female FAA-
certificated airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanics remains
low at only 2.4 percent.\6\ As of 2020, just seven percent of
all U.S. commercial pilots and only 4.3 percent of all flight
engineers were women.\7\ A similar trend can be seen with
communities of color in civil aviation. According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 94 percent of all U.S. aircraft
pilots and flight engineers are white.\8\ These significant
discrepancies suggest that increased outreach to these
underrepresented groups could expand the hiring pool and help
meet future workforce needs in the U.S. aviation industry.
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\5\ Rebecca Lutte, Women in Aviation: A Workforce Report (May
2019), available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
333855943_Women_in_Aviation_A_Workforce_Report.
\6\ Gov't Accountability Office, GAO-20-206, Aviation Maintenance:
Additional Coordination and Data Could Advance FAA Efforts to Promote a
Robust, Diverse Workforce p.28 (2020).
\7\ Current Statistics of Women in Aviation Careers in U.S., Women
in Aviation International, available at https://www.wai.org/resources/
waistats.
\8\ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employed persons by detailed
occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, (Jan. 2021),
available at https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm.
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B. PROJECTED WORKFORCE NEEDS

Hiring difficulties during times of high growth and low
unemployment are not uncommon among industries that depend on a
skilled workforce. After tens of thousands of workers elected
to leave the airline industry or were furloughed during the
COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are working to rehire major
portions of their workforce as the industry moves towards
recovery.\9\ Even prior to the pandemic, the surging number of
retirements among the baby boomer generation was expected to
exacerbate the workforce needs.\10\ The FAA predicts ``an
increasing share of the industry's technical workforce is
moving toward retirement.'' \11\ The Aviation Technician
Education Council estimates that while 30 percent of the
current workforce is at or near retirement age, new workers
comprise only two percent of the workforce annually.\12\ To
meet the demand for new, skilled aviation workers, employers
will need to expand the talent pool from which they
traditionally hire or train potential workers. One way to
expand this candidate pool is to recruit workers from
historically underrepresented groups in the aviation industry.
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\9\ Kate Duffy, Major US airlines are going on a hiring spree after
slashing tens of thousands of jobs, Business Insider (June 2021),
available at https://www.businessinsider.com/covid-pandemic-airlines-
hiring-cut-thousands-jobs-travel-labor-shortage-2021-6.
\10\ Laura Schneider, How Retiring Baby Boomers Affect the Job
Market, The Balance Careers, (Nov. 29, 2019), available at https://
www.thebalancecareers.com/retiring-boomers-affect-job-market-2071932.
\11\ Looking Forward: The Future of America's Aviation Maintenance
and Manufacturing Workforce: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Aviation,
116 Cong. (Feb. 2020) (Statement of Catherine Lang), available at
https://www.transportation.gov/testimony/looking-forward-future-
america%E2%80%99s-aviation-maintenance-and-manufacturing-workforce.
\12\ Brianne Eby and Paul Lewis, Aviation Workforce Challenges in
the United States and the United Kingdom, Eno Center on Transportation
(March 2019) p. 23 available at www.enotrans.org/wp-content/uploads/
2019/03/3.26-US-UK-Aviation-Workforce_final.pdf.
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III. KEY CHALLENGES AFFECTING THE DIVERSITY OF THE U.S. AVIATION
WORKFORCE

A. OUTREACH AND BRIDGING THE ``GLAMOUR GAP''

One barrier to access for underrepresented communities to
the aviation and aerospace fields is the lack of exposure to
the industry, particularly among younger age groups. Continued
outreach to these groups across U.S. aviation and aerospace can
help to further develop this critical workforce.\13\ A recent
report studying women in aviation emphasized the need for
additional outreach to promote careers as airline ``pilots,
maintenance technicians, aerospace engineers, dispatchers,
cybersecurity experts, airport managers, air traffic
controllers, and a continued focus on the need for women in
aviation leadership positions.'' \14\
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\13\ See supra note 5.
\14\ Id.
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Additionally, waning interest among younger generations to
enter the aviation field, colloquially known as the ``Glamour
Gap,'' contributes to the industry's workforce shortage.\15\
For instance, enrollment at FAA-certificated aircraft
maintenance technician (AMT) schools has decreased by 2 percent
in recent years and AMT school programs are currently only
operating at 50 percent capacity.\16\ Several employers and
stakeholders point to the declining number of ``shop'' classes
in high school and the perception that well-paying professions
can be obtained only through four-year institutions as leading
causes of the growing disinterest among young people in seeking
jobs in the aviation maintenance and manufacturing fields.\17\
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\15\ Jim Freaner, Aerospace Skills Gap: Workforce Declines, As
Talent Needs Increase, Area Development, available at https://
www.areadevelopment.com/Aerospace/q3-2015-auto-aero-site-guide/
Aerospace-Skills-Gap-Workforce-Declines-Needs-Increase-45711.shtml.
\16\ Eno Center, supra note 18 at 23.
\17\ See supra note 13.
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B. THE ``SKILLS GAP''

Many employers in the aviation industry express concern
over a potential labor shortage, due to an inadequate supply of
qualified workers. For instance, according to a 2014 GAO report
on the availability of aviation maintenance and engineering
professionals, nearly 70 percent of employers interviewed by
the GAO expressed some level of difficulty hiring workers with
the desired experience levels.\18\ Further, a 2018 industry
report projected that the skills gap may leave an estimated 2.4
million manufacturing positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028,
with a potential economic impact of $2.5 trillion.\19\
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\18\ GAO-14-237 at 23.
\19\ Deloitte, 2018 Manufacturing Skills Gap Study, available at
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/manufacturing/articles/future-of-
manufacturing-skills-gap-study.html.
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This ``skills gap'' stems from several causes; one of which
is the lack of skilled workers in positions requiring more than
a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree.
A 2016 industry survey found that 39 percent of aerospace
companies predicted an ``extreme'' impact on their business
growth caused by the science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) workforce shortage.\20\ For instance, in 2019 a U.S.
aviation maintenance and repair company pointed to this
workforce challenge as the primary reason the company had
nearly 400 openings at its five U.S. facilities and two
Canadian facilities.\21\
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\20\ Aerospace Industries Association, What Every Candidate Should
Know About the Aerospace Workforce and STEM, (2016), available at
https://www.aia-aerospace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/
AIA_Campaign_Papers_Workforce.pdf.
\21\ Rob Mark, AAR White Paper Focuses on Maintenance Technician
Shortage, (Feb. 2019) Flying Mag. available at https://
www.flyingmag.com/aar-maintenance-technician-shortage/.
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C. BIAS

Another barrier to aviation careers for underrepresented
communities are unconscious biases which often permeate the
training and hiring processes. Last year, an Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University study found that participating
``consumers and other pilots favored white males in all
conditions, while females and minorities were viewed less
favorably.'' \22\ The study also noted that such biases could
deprive the aviation industry of the best job candidates.\23\
Additionally, a 2018 report concluded that ``documented biases
have the ability to influence the attitudes toward women
entering aviation and the overall training process'' and can
create ``a feeling of unwelcome for newcomers who don't fit the
stereotypical `pilot' mold.'' \24\ At a recent industry
conference, panelists agreed that companies should have
dedicated plans to expand workforce diversity to help ``move
beyond the common perception of the industry as one favoring
older, and predominantly white, males.'' \25\
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\22\ Nadine K. Ragbir, et al., An examination of consumer bias
against female and minority commercial pilots, Technology in Society
(Feb. 2021).
\23\ Id.
\24\ Hart, William, Isolation and Onboarding: Gender Bias in
Aviation Training Documents (2018). Technical Communication Capstone
Course, Minnesota State University, Mankato.
\25\ National Business Aviation Association, Expanding Workforce
Diversity Requires Moving Beyond Personal Biases, (July 2020), https://
nbaa.org/about/diversity-equity-inclusion-dei/expanding-workforce-
diversity-requires-moving-beyond-personal-biases.
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Without effective strategies to address these underlying
workforce challenges, the aviation industry's economic growth
and technological advances could be hampered in the future.

IV. KEY INITIATIVES SUPPORTING THE U.S. AVIATION WORKFORCE

A. CONGRESSIONAL MANDATES AND INITIATIVES

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 included several
provisions targeted toward recruiting more young people and
women to pursue careers in the aviation industry.
Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force.
Section 602 of the act directed the FAA to establish the Youth
Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force. The task force
is responsible for providing recommendations and strategies to
the FAA that will facilitate and encourage high school students
to enroll in high school career and technical courses that
would prepare them for an aviation career or enroll in a course
of study related to an aviation career, including aviation
manufacturing, engineering, and maintenance.\26\ In July 2020,
the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced 20
appointees to the task force, representing ``a diverse range of
backgrounds and expertise in aviation and education.'' \27\ Dr.
Sharon DeVivo, President of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and
Technology, serves as chair of the task force.\28\
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\26\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 602 (2018).
\27\ DOT, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Makes
Appointments to Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force,
(July 2020), https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-
transportation-secretary-elaine-l-chao-makes-appointments-youth-access-
american-0.
\28\ Dr. DeVivo testified at the Subcommittee's hearing titled
``Looking Forward: The Future of America's Aviation Maintenance and
Manufacturing Workforce'' (February 2020) https://
transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony%20-%20Devivo.pdf
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Women in Aviation Advisory Board. Section 612 of the act
directed the FAA to create the Women in Aviation Advisory
Board, which is tasked with ``promoting organizations and
programs that are providing education, training, mentorship,
outreach and recruitment of women in the aviation industry.''
\29\ In May 2020, the DOT announced the appointment of 30
members to the advisory board.\30\ Former U.S. Air Force
Secretary Heather Wilson serves as chair of the board.
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\29\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 612 (2018).
\30\ DOT, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Appoints
Industry Leaders to Women in Aviation Advisory Board, (May 2020),
https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-transportation-
secretary-elaine-l-chao-appoints-industry-leaders-women-aviation.
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Aviation Workforce Development Grants. Section 625 of the
act directed the DOT to establish two grant programs to
``support the education and recruitment of aviation maintenance
technical workers and the development of the aviation
maintenance workforce'' and ``to support the education of
future aircraft pilots and the development of the aircraft
pilot workforce.'' \31\ The first-of-its-kind programs are both
authorized at $5 million annually through fiscal year 2023. The
programs--delegated to the FAA--will provide grants for
educational programs, scholarships, apprenticeships and other
outreach initiatives to expand educational opportunities in the
field of aviation maintenance and to prepare the next
generation of aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, or unmanned
aircraft systems operators.\32\
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\31\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 625 (2018).
\32\ Id.
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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Collegiate Training Initiative
(UAS-CTI). Sections 631 and 632 of the act directed the FAA to
establish a collegiate training initiative program relating to
UAS by partnering with institutions of higher education to
prepare students for careers in the UAS sector.\33\
Additionally, the law directed the FAA to designate a consortia
of public, two-year institutions of higher education as
Community and Technical College Centers of Excellence in Small
UAS Technology Training.\34\ To comply with these requirements,
the FAA launched the UAS Collegiate Training Initiative (UAS-
CTI) program in April 2020. Under the program, ``participating
institutions will engage with the FAA, each other, general
industry, local governments, law enforcement, and regional
economic development entities to address labor force needs'' to
help provide students with the ``skills needed to pursue a
successful career in a UAS-related field.'' \35\ More than 70
schools from across the country have been selected by the FAA
to participate in the UAS-CTI program.\36\
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\33\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 631, 632 (2018).
\34\ Id.
\35\ FAA, More Schools Join the Collegiate Training Initiative,
(Sept. 2020), https://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=95838.
\36\ See: Engaging with Academia: How the FAA is Helping Prepare
Tomorrow's UAS Workforce, (April 2021), https://medium.com/faa/
engaging-with-academia-661aaa3551cb.
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Student Outreach Report. Section 601 of the act directed
the FAA to submit a report to Congress describing the agency's
outreach efforts to elementary and secondary students
interested in STEM careers in order to prepare them for
aviation- and aeronautical-related careers and mitigate the
anticipated shortage of pilots and other aviation
professionals.\37\ The FAA completed the report and submitted
it to Congress in September 2019.\38\ In the report, the FAA
highlighted a 20 percent increase in the number of outreach
representatives and a 50 percent increase in the number of its
outreach events.\39\
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\37\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 601 (2018).
\38\ FAA, Section 601 Youth in Aviation Student Outreach Report,
https://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/congress/media/
Section_601_Youth_in_Aviation_Student_
Outreach_Report.pdf.
\39\ Id. at p.2.
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FAA Cybersecurity Workforce Report. Section 549 of the act
required the National Academy of Sciences to study the FAA's
cybersecurity workforce and develop recommendations to
``increase the size, quality, and diversity of such workforce,
including cybersecurity researchers and specialists.'' \40\
Released in June 2021, the report found that ``an effective
cybersecurity workforce will need to be diverse across several
axes'' and should, among other strategies, increase engagement
with underrepresented minorities, women, and encourage
applicants from a range of geographic locations.\41\
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\40\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 549 (2018).
\41\ National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine,
Looking Ahead at the Cybersecurity Workforce at the Federal Aviation
Administration, Pg. 2. (June 2021), https://www.nap.edu/resource/26105/
FAA%20Cybersecurity.pdf
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FAA Technical Workforce Report. Section 569 of the act
directed the FAA to submit a report to Congress describing the
progress made toward implementing the agency's action plan to
attract, develop, and retain a talented workforce in the areas
of systems engineering, architecture, systems integration,
digital communications, and cybersecurity.\42\ The FAA
completed the report and submitted it to Congress in October
2020.\43\ Among its recommendations, the report called on the
FAA to focus on recruiting youth to build the agency's pipeline
of technical talent, including high school and middle school
students.\44\ In addition, the report highlighted the expansion
of the agency's Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Intern
Program. For FY2020, the FAA hosted 110 MSI summer interns, 30
of whom majored in computer science, cybersecurity, or
engineering.\45\
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\42\ P.L. 115-254, Sec. 569 (2018).
\43\ FAA, Section 569 Report on Attracting, Developing, Training,
and Retaining FAA's Technical Workforce, available at https://
www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/congress/media/
Report_Congress_FAA_Technical_Workforce_Sec569.pdf
\44\ Id. at p. 6-7.
\45\ Id. at p. 10.
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B. FAA PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

FAA Office of Aviation and Space Education. The FAA's STEM
Aviation and Space Education (AVSED) program was created in
1961 to expose students to aviation and aerospace careers, help
recruit new workers into these fields, and promote STEM
education to students at all levels.\46\ Through the program,
the agency works collaboratively with government and private
sector entities to promote aviation-related STEM skills and
grow the pipeline of students interested in working in these
fields.\47\ AVSED has produced promotional materials, such as
brochures and DVDs, that it shares with college recruiters and
guidance counselors, distributes at career fairs, and
publicizes virtual learning opportunities. The program also
focuses on student populations in underserved communities,
through its Adopt-a-School and Girls in Aviation initiatives,
to help achieve a more diverse workforce.\48\ For the past two
years, AVSED has run the FAA Airport Design Challenge, during
which teams of elementary, middle, and high schoolers
participate in a five week program on airport design while
building a virtual airport model in Microsoft Minecraft.\49\
AVSED is also involved in initiatives such as the Real World
Design Challenge, a high school engineering competition, and
the Build a Plane program, which provides schools with actual
aircraft to be used as teaching tools.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ FAA. About STEM AVSED, (Oct. 2019), https://www.faa.gov/
education/about/.
\47\ GAO-14-237 at 1.
\48\ DOT, Budget Estimates Fiscal Year 2022: Federal Aviation
Administration (2021), https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/
files/2021-05/FAA-FY-2022-Congressional-Justification.pdf.
\49\ FAA, Airport Design Challenge, https://www.faa.gov/education/
virtual_learning/airport_design/.
\50\ GAO-14-237 at 30.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAA Aviation Workforce Steering Committee. The FAA's
Aviation Workforce Steering Committee (Steering Committee) was
established in February 2019 to determine agency goals for
addressing aviation workforce challenges, exploring options
[for resolving those challenges], and facilitating cross agency
strategic coordination.\51\ The Steering Committee's charter
emphasizes providing diverse populations with clear pathways
into aviation careers to expand the talent pool from which both
government and industry may recruit.\52\ While the Steering
Committee considers all aviation professions, its immediate
challenge is to focus on the shortage of pilots and
technicians.\53\ Looking ahead, the Steering Committee plans
``a special focus on diversity and inclusion and attracting
women, minorities and persons with disabilities to the aviation
and aerospace professions [which] helps ensure the government
and the industry can recruit from a broader and more inclusive
talent pool in the future.'' \54\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\51\ FAA. Section 601 Youth in Aviation Student Outreach Report.
Pg. 15. https://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/congress/media/
Section_601_Youth_in_Aviation_Student_
Outreach_Report.pdf
\52\ GAO-20-206 at 19.
\53\ Id.
\54\ FAA, Section 601 Youth in Aviation Student Outreach Report at
17.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAA Office of Civil Rights National Outreach Program for
Diversity and Inclusion. The FAA Office of Civil Rights'
National Outreach Program for Diversity and Inclusion includes
several initiatives to ensure equal access to resources and
programs that may foster future Federal employment and
advancement opportunities.\55\ For instance, through the
Hispanic Education Program, the FAA partners with high schools,
post-secondary academic institutions and other key stakeholders
to increase recruitment, hiring, training to ``address the
under-representation of Hispanics/Latinos in the Federal
government.'' \56\ Additionally, the People with Disabilities
Program works to actively recruit, promote, retain, and advance
people with disabilities within the agency.\57\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\55\ FAA, Office of Civil Rights--National Outreach Program for
Diversity and Inclusion, (Aug. 2020), https://www.faa.gov/about/
office_org/headquarters_offices/acr/outreach/.
\56\ FAA, National Outreach Program for Diversity and Inclusion:
Hispanic Employment Program, (Sept. 2020), https://www.faa.gov/about/
office_org/headquarters_offices/acr/outreach/hep/
\57\ FAA, National Outreach Program for Diversity and Inclusion:
People with Disabilities Program, (Aug. 2020), https://www.faa.gov/
about/office_org/headquarters_offices/acr/outreach/pwd/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. OTHER GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

In addition to FAA-led efforts, there are several other
government programs seeking to address the mounting need for
aviation workers and improve diversity across the sector.
Department of Transportation (DOT). Since 2009, the DOT's
Women & Girls In Transportation Initiative (WITI) has
encouraged young women from colleges and universities across
the country to pursue careers in the transportation and STEM
fields. Through the department's Small Business Transportation
Resource Centers, the initiative aims ``to increase the
participation of women in the transportation industry and
prepare young women to become future leaders by creating
ladders of opportunity and small business' economic
competitiveness through careers, internships, strategic
partnerships and education.'' \58\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\58\ DOT, USDOT's Women & Girls in Transportation Initiative
(WITI), (Sept. 2019), https://www.transportation.gov/osdbu/women-and-
girls.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Labor (DOL). DOL also has programs directed
towards diversifying the aviation workforce. The department's
2017 Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan highlighted the
department's aim to ``secure a high-performing workforce drawn
from all segments of American society'' and promote ``diversity
and inclusion as a key strategic priority, through continued
leadership commitment, accountability, and total workforce
engagement'', among other goals.\59\ The DOL's Registered
Apprenticeship Program awards grants to provide employer-driven
training opportunities that combine on-the-job learning with
related classroom instruction.\60\ For instance, from 2014
through 2018, DOL awarded nearly $3.8 million in grants and
contracts to promote these apprenticeships for aviation
maintenance workers.\61\ Further, the DOL's Workforce
Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities
works to connect college students and recent graduates,
including veterans, with disabilities to career opportunities
in in-demand sectors.\62\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\59\ DOL, Commitment to a Diverse Workforce, https://www.dol.gov/
general/jobs/commitment-to-a-diverse-workforce.
\60\ Id.
\61\ GAO-20-206 at 16.
\62\ DOL, Workforce Recruitment Program, https://www.dol.gov/
agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/workforce-recruitment-program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Education (ED). Further, over the course of
the last decade, the Department of Education has also pursued
several initiatives to promote aviation education and careers.
For example, in October 2017, ED awarded more than $4 million
in new grants, through the High School Career and Technical
Education (CTE) Teacher Pathway Initiative, to address the
shortage of CTE programs.\63\ The ED has also announced $17.3
million for college internships, research projects, and other
opportunities to connect STEM students, including Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other MSIs, with
the resources from the department's National Laboratories.\64\
Across the aerospace industry, there is growing interest in and
support for greater access to scholarships and student loan
assistance for those attending technical colleges.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\63\ High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher
Pathway Initiative, PCRN: High School CTE Teacher Pathway, https://
cte.ed.gov/initiatives/high-school-cte-teacher-pathway.
\64\ See: DOE Awards $17.3 Million for Student and Faculty Research
Opportunities and to Foster Workforce Diversity, (May 2021), https://
www.energy.gov/articles/doe-awards-173-million-student-and-faculty-
research-opportunities-and-foster-workforce.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Defense (DOD). The U.S. Air Force's Junior
Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JRTOC) Flight Academy also
works to attract younger students to aviation and improve
diversity in the field.\65\ In 2018-2019, over 200 cadets
graduated from the academy, of which 41 percent of new pilots
are from underrepresented groups and 18 percent are women.\66\
The DOD also administers the Credentialing Opportunities On-
Line (COOL) program, which creates a pathway for service
members to earn industry recognized professional certifications
and licenses.\67\ The program provided more than $5 million
toward aviation maintenance-related credentials from 2015
through 2018 for more than 2,500 service members.\68\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\65\ FAA, Pilot Shortage: Crisis and Opportunities (June 2021),
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/
documents/media/Updated June YIATF Meeting Packet.pdf.
\66\ Id.
\67\ GAO-20-206 at 15.
\68\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. INDUSTRY INITIATIVES

Many aviation companies and aerospace trade groups are
establishing their own training programs and outreach
initiatives to further develop and maintain their workforce.
Below are just a few examples of industry-led initiatives and
partnerships.
LIn April 2021, United Airlines announced plans to
train 5,000 new pilots by 2030, at least half of whom will be
women and people from underrepresented communities.\69\ The
airline also pledged $1.2 million in scholarships to help
address financial barriers to the airline pilot career path for
students.\70\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\69\ Bob D'Angelo, United Airlines sets new diversity goal for
pilot training, KIRO 7 News Seattle. (April 2021), available at https:/
70ww.kiro7.com/news/trending/united-airlines-sets-new-diversity-goal-
pilot-training/6EPFPMWTE5GZDBYPLPJZC4NGCI/.
\70\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LSince 2019, the Aeronautics Industry Association
(AIA) has organized a nationwide rocketry contest, with nearly
5,000 middle and high school students participating
annually.\71\ To date, this initiative has funded $120,000 in
grants to schools in low-income communities and connected more
than 80,000 students with rocketry and aerospace career
mentors.\72\ The trade group also plans to provide $50,000 in
grants to schools in underserved communities next year through
this initiative.\73\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\71\ Aerospace Industries Association, Diversity, Equity &
Inclusion, available at https://www.aia-aerospace.org/diversity-equity-
inclusion/.
\72\ Id.
\73\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LTo hire 2,000 mechanics over the next decade,
Delta Air Lines is providing $350,000 in grants to nine
aviation high schools around the country to help expand its
workforce.\74\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\74\ Leslie Josephs, College of $70,000 a year? Aviation Industry
scrambles for mechanics as retirements loom, CNBC. (Sept. 2018),
available at https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/03/airlines-search-for-young-
mechanics-as-retirement-wave-looms.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLast August, AAR, a Chicago-based aviation
maintenance and repair company, partnered with the Corporation
for Skilled Workforce to create a program at schools located
near its repair stations to demonstrate how students can learn
skills leading to multiple career paths at the company.\75\ The
learned skills developed within the program can then be used to
pursue an A&P mechanic certificate.\76\ Through this
initiative, the company aims to diversify the aviation
maintenance technician workforce and reduce future labor
shortages.\77\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\75\ Lindsay Bjerregaard, AAR Plans For Expected Ramp-Up In
Workforce Demand, Aviation Week. (Aug. 2020), available at https://
aviationweek.com/mro/workforce-training/aar-plans-expected-ramp-
workforce-demand.
\76\ Rob Mark, AAR White Paper Focuses on Maintenance Technician
Shortage, Flying Mag. (Feb. 2019) available at https://
www.flyingmag.com/aar-maintenance-technician-shortage/.
\77\ See AAR Partners With Corporation for Skilled Workforce and
Lumina Foundation to Reduce Labor Shortage and Increase Diversity in
the Aviation Industry, Aviation Pros (Aug. 2020), available at https://
www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/maintenance-providers/mro/press-release/
21151640/aar-corp-aar-partners-with-corporation-for-skilled-workforce-
and-lumina-foundation-to-reduce-labor-shortage-and-increase-diversity-
in-the-aviation-industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LSince its inception in 2018, the Leadership in
Flight Training (LIFT) Academy in Indianapolis has worked to
broaden diversity within the cockpit and maintenance
hangars.\78\ Earlier this month, the Leadership in Flight
Training (LIFT) Academy in Indianapolis announced it will send
its graduates to Cape Air to help broaden diversity and provide
the airline with a talented pool of aviators to operate its
daily passenger flights throughout the Midwest, Montana,
Caribbean, and the Northeast.\79\ The LIFT Academy, through its
parent company Lynx Aviation, also invested in Hyannis Air
Service to broaden its workforce development initiatives.\80\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\78\ Business Wire, LIFT Academy Enters a Strategic Workforce
Development Relationship with Cape Air, Providing an Aviation Career
Pathway and Airline Flow Program, (July 1, 2021), available at https://
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210701005862/en/LIFT-Academy-Enters-a-
Strategic-Workforce-Development-Relationship-with-Cape-Air-Providing-
an-Aviation-Career-Pathway-and-Airline-Flow-Program
\79\ Id.
\80\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIn 2017, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
partnered with Alaska Airlines through their LIFT Miles
program, to allow guests to contribute airline miles alongside
the company to ensure travel does not hold young people back
from pursuing their dreams of education.\81\ To date, Alaska
and its guests have contributed more than 13.4 million Alaska
Airlines miles to fly students to HBCUs for college tours,
career development events, and other UNCF programs.\82\ With
this renewed commitment, Alaska will donate one million miles
annually to support students attending HBCUs.\83\ In addition,
Alaska has also established a scholarship through the UNCF to
help students overcome the financial obstacles of getting a
college education.\84\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\81\ Aaron Allen, Alaska Airlines Renews Commitment to Education
and Diversity with Unveiling of UNCF Inspired Aircraft, The Seattle
Medium (April 2021), available at https://seattlemedium.com/alaska-
airlines-renews-commitment-to-education-and-diversity-with-unveiling-
of-uncf-inspired-aircraft/.
\82\ Id.
\83\ Id.
\84\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

WITNESSES

LDr. Rebecca Lutte, Associate Professor,
University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute
LCaptain Claudia Zapata-Cardone, Executive
Director of Community Relations and Outreach, Latino Pilots
Association
LMs. Icema D. Gibbs, Vice President of Corporate
Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,
JetBlue Airways
LMr. Joel Webley, Chairman, Board of Directors,
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals
LMr. Kyle J. Kaiser, President, VIPER Transitions

BRIDGING THE GAP: IMPROVING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE U.S.
AVIATION WORKFORCE

----------

TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021

House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Aviation,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:01 a.m., in
room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon. Rick
Larsen (Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Larsen. The subcommittee will come to order.
First, I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized
to declare a recess at any time during today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at
today's hearing and ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
As a reminder to everyone, please keep your microphone
muted unless speaking. Should I hear any inadvertent background
noise, I will request that the Member please mute their
microphone.
A reminder, as well: To insert a document into the record,
please have your staff email it to DocumentsT&I@mail.house.gov.
I will now start with my opening statement.
Good morning and welcome to today's witnesses and everyone
joining the Aviation Subcommittee's hearing titled ``Bridging
the Gap: Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation
Workforce.''
The topic of this hearing comes at a critical time for the
U.S. aviation and aerospace industries. Over the last 18
months, these industries were hit particularly hard by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Five hundred fifty-seven million fewer
passengers flew on U.S. airlines in 2020 than in the previous
year, as a for-instance.
The growth of aviation manufacturing was also hindered by
the pandemic. By the end of 2020, the value of aircraft
deliveries declined by nearly 15 percent.
So as the Nation reopens and Americans return to air
travel, a discussion must be had regarding the status and needs
of the aviation and aerospace workforce.
I acknowledge that I, myself, have more work to do to
understand and address these barriers, such as systemic racism,
that enables inequity and injustice to persist in the United
States.
As subcommittee chair and as a Member of Congress, I have
made highlighting the importance of an increasingly diverse
country and what that means for the U.S. aviation and aerospace
workforce, and developing an increasingly diverse workforce is
a priority.
It is important that the economic and job opportunities
available in these industries be available and accessible to
all Americans.
However, in many cases, the U.S. transportation workforce
does not reflect the diversity of the country. Unfortunately,
the aerospace and aviation sectors are no exception. A recent
survey of the industry found that women comprise 25 percent of
the industry's workforce, while only 6 percent of respondents
identified as a person of color and just less than 8 percent
identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to an Aviation Week
2020 workforce study.
The aviation and aerospace sectors also expect a good chunk
of their workforce to retire soon. The Aviation Technician
Education Council estimates that 30 percent--3-0 percent--of
the current workforce is at or near retirement age.
To meet the increasing demand for new and skilled aviation
workers, employers must expand the talent pool from which they
have traditionally drawn.
To fill existing and future workforce needs, several
challenges must be met head on. Today's witnesses will help the
subcommittee to better understand the need for diversity in the
U.S. aviation and aerospace workforce and the challenges faced
in their journeys to succeed in this industry.
I am pleased to welcome Dr. Rebecca K. Lutte, associate
professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aviation
Institute, to share her research findings on representation in
aviation and challenges to improve diversity in the sector.
One such challenge is the basic lack of exposure to
aviation and aerospace careers for young people, especially for
minority communities and women. The Federal Government and
industry must make a concerted effort to help promote these
careers among these communities to better diversify the
workforce.
I am pleased to as well welcome Captain Claudia Zapata-
Cardone, executive director of community relations and outreach
for the Latino Pilots Association.
Captain Zapata-Cardone, I look forward to hearing your
story and your recommendations to enhance the talent pipeline.
We are also joined by Mr. Joel Webley, board chair of the
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, or OBAP, an
organization at the forefront of creating more pathways to
these careers for historically underrepresented groups.
Mr. Webley, I am interested in learning more about your
expertise in aviation and OBAP's various outreach programs.
In their efforts to grow the aviation workforce, employers
are also faced with the skills gap. Employers have found there
is a lack of skilled workers in positions requiring more than a
high school diploma, but less than a 4-year college degree.
According to a 2018 industry report, the skills gap may
leave an estimated 2.4 million manufacturing positions unfilled
between now and 2028, resulting in a $2.5 trillion loss in the
economy.
One way to address the gap is to help Active Duty
servicemembers and veterans to transition into well-paying
careers in the aviation sector. Congress and this subcommittee
owe it to veterans to help them find pathways to the skills
necessary for employment in aviation and aerospace.
I am pleased to welcome Mr. Kyle Kaiser, president of VIPER
Transitions, and to hear about his organization's critical work
to help veterans enter this workforce and what Congress can do
to support these efforts.
Underrepresented communities also face the challenge of
bias when attempting to enter aviation careers. A 2020 study
conducted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University found, quote,
``consumers and other pilots favored White males in all
conditions, while females and minorities were viewed less
favorably.'' That is unfortunate.
The same study found such biases could deprive the aviation
industry of the best job candidates.
Efforts undertaken by the aviation industry itself are
critical to overcoming the challenges underrepresented groups
face entering these jobs, which is why I am pleased to welcome
Ms. Icema Gibbs, vice president of corporate social
responsibility and diversity, equity, and inclusion for JetBlue
Airways.
Ms. Gibbs, I look forward to hearing more about JetBlue's
efforts to recruit more diverse talent, particularly in
frontline operations and in leadership roles.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 included several
provisions to improve the recruitment of young people and women
to careers in the aviation industry. The Youth Access to
American Jobs in Aviation Task Force is responsible for
providing recommendations and strategies to the FAA to
encourage high school students to enroll in courses and secure
apprenticeships that prepare them for an aviation career.
Last year, the DOT announced 20 appointees to this task
force representing a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise
in aviation and education.
The Women in Aviation Advisory Board is also tasked with
exploring opportunities for education, training, mentorship,
outreach, and recruitment of women in the aviation industry.
The DOT announced the appointment of 30 members to this
advisory board in May of last year.
The law also established the Aviation Workforce Development
Grants to fund scholarships, apprenticeships, and other
outreach initiatives to expand educational opportunities for
the next generation of aviation maintenance technicians,
aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers, and operators of unmanned
aircraft systems.
So a question I have for today's witnesses generally is:
Are these initiatives enough? Does Congress need to do more?
As the Nation works towards full economic recovery, the
Federal Government and industry must and can work together to
break down barriers and ensure careers in the aviation and
aerospace industries are available and accessible to all
Americans. Doing so will not only boost continued economic
growth, but also help to ensure the long-term health of the
industries themselves.
So I want to thank today's witnesses for coming, and I look
forward to our discussion.
[Mr. Larsen's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Washington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation
Good morning and welcome to today's witnesses joining the Aviation
Subcommittee's hearing titled ``Bridging the Gap: Improving Diversity
and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation Workforce.''
The topic of this hearing comes at a critical moment in time for
the U.S. aviation and aerospace industries.
Over the last 18 months, these industries were hit particularly
hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For instance, 557 million fewer passengers flew on U.S. airlines in
2020 than in the previous year.
The growth of aviation manufacturing was also hindered by the
pandemic; by the end of 2020, the value of aircraft deliveries declined
by nearly 15 percent.
As the nation reopens and Americans return to air travel, a
discussion must be had regarding the status and needs of the aviation
and aerospace workforce.
As a white man, I acknowledge that I, too, have more work to do to
understand and address the barriers, such as systemic racism, that
enable inequity and injustice to persist in the United States.
As Subcommittee Chair and as a Member of Congress, I have made
improving diversity in the U.S. aviation and aerospace workforce a
priority.
It is important that the economic and job opportunities available
in these industries be available and accessible to all Americans.
However, in many cases, the U.S. transportation workforce does not
reflect the true diversity of the country.
Unfortunately, the aviation and aerospace sectors are no exception.
A recent survey of the aerospace industry found that women comprise
only 25 percent of the industry's workforce, while only six percent of
respondents identified as a Person of Color and just less than eight
percent identified as Hispanic or Latino.
The aviation and aerospace sectors also expect a good chunk of
their workforce to retire soon.
The Aviation Technician Education Council estimates that 30 percent
of the current workforce is at or near retirement age.
To meet the increasing demand for new and skilled aviation workers,
employers must expand the talent pool from which they have
traditionally drawn.
To fill existing and future workforce needs, several challenges
must be met head on.
Today's witnesses will help this subcommittee to better understand
the need for diversity in the U.S. aviation and aerospace workforce,
and challenges faced in their journeys to succeed in this industry.
I am pleased to welcome Dr. Rebecca K. Lutte, Assistant Professor
at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Aviation Institute, to share
her research findings on representation in aviation and challenges to
improving diversity in the sector.
One such challenge is the basic lack of exposure to aviation and
aerospace careers for young people, especially from minority
communities and women.
The federal government and industry must make a concerted to help
promote these careers among these communities to better diversify the
workforce.
I am pleased to welcome Captain Claudia Zapata-Cardone, Executive
Director of Community Relations and Outreach for the Latino Pilots
Association. Captain Zapata-Cardone, I look forward to hearing your
story and recommendations to enhance the talent pipeline.
We are also joined by Mr. Joel Webley, Board Chair of the
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP), an organization
at the forefront of creating more pathways to these careers for
historically underrepresented groups. Mr. Webley, I am interested in
learning more about your experience in aviation and OBAP's various
outreach programs.
In their efforts to grow the aviation workforce, employers are also
faced with the ``skills gap.''
Employers have found there is a lack of skilled workers in
positions requiring more than a high school diploma, but less than a
four-year college degree.
According to a 2018 industry report, this skills gap may leave an
estimated 2.4 million manufacturing positions unfilled between now and
2028, resulting in a $2.5 trillion loss in the economy.
One way to address this gap is to help active duty servicemembers
and veterans to transition into well-paying careers in the aviation
industry.
Congress and this Subcommittee owe it to veterans to help them find
pathways to the skills necessary for employment in aviation and
aerospace.
I am pleased to welcome Mr. Kyle Kaiser, President of VIPER
Transitions, about his organization's critical work to help veterans
enter this workforce and what Congress can do to support these efforts.
Underrepresented communities also face the challenge of bias when
attempting to enter aviation careers.
A 2020 study by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University found
``consumers and other pilots favored white males in all conditions,
while females and minorities were viewed less favorably.''
The same study found such biases could deprive the aviation
industry of the best job candidates.
Efforts undertaken by the aviation industry itself are critical to
overcoming the challenges underrepresented groups face entering these
jobs.
Which is why I am pleased to welcome Ms. Icema Gibbs, Vice
President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion for JetBlue Airways. Ms. Gibbs, I look forward to hearing
more about JetBlue's efforts to recruit more diverse talent,
particularly in frontline operations and leadership roles.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 included several provisions to
improve the recruitment of young people and women to careers in the
aviation industry.
The Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force is
responsible for providing recommendations and strategies to the FAA to
encourage high school students to enroll in courses and secure
apprenticeships that prepare them for an aviation career.
Last year, the DOT announced 20 appointees to this task force
representing ``a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise in aviation
and education.''
The Women in Aviation Advisory Board is also tasked with exploring
opportunities for education, training, mentorship, outreach and
recruitment of women in the aviation industry. The DOT announced the
appointment of 30 members to this advisory board in May of last year.
The law also established Aviation Workforce Development Grants to
fund scholarships, apprenticeships and other outreach initiatives to
expand educational opportunities for the next generation of aviation
maintenance technicians, aircraft pilots, aerospace engineers and
unmanned aircraft systems operators.
A question I have for today's witnesses is: Are these initiatives
enough? Or does Congress need to do more?
As the nation works toward full economic recovery, government and
industry must work together to break down barriers and ensure careers
in the aviation and aerospace industries are available and accessible
to all Americans.
Doing so will not only boost continued economic growth, but also
help to ensure the long-term health of the industries themselves.
Thank you again to today's witnesses. I look forward to our
discussion.

Mr. Larsen. With that, I want to recognize the ranking
member of the subcommittee, Mr. Graves of Louisiana, for his
opening statement.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank you for holding this hearing today and
thank all of the witnesses for joining us today.
Mr. Chairman, you can look at the statistics, and it is
crystal clear that we can make significant improvements in
diversity. I believe the number of pilots that are women in the
United States comprises about 7 percent and for flight
engineers it is even lower than that at 4.3 percent.
We can make improvements in diversifying and better
including communities of color in flight mechanics, and our
pilots, engineers, and others. There is no doubt.
But, Mr. Chairman, I think taking a step back, which is
what we ought to be doing right now, we are seeing huge
shortages in workforce across the United States. The aviation
industry is certainly no exception to that.
We have stepped in and done programs like the Payroll
Support Program, trying to ensure that when we saw these
extraordinary drops in passengers, as I recall, a 95-percent
reduction in commercial passenger travel in April of last
year--obviously it is impossible to maintain a workforce with
those sorts of numbers.
But now, I know when I flew in yesterday, National Airport
alone was probably the busiest I have seen it since the
pandemic, but we have got to work to help to make sure that all
industries have workforce.
And recently in the Atlanta airport when I was there, only
two of the businesses on the entire concourse were actually
open because of workforce shortages. I think that some of the
statistics are clear that looking at the States that have
stepped in early and cut off the supplemental unemployment
assistance, those States have seen an increase in employment.
And I think that we certainly need to work across all
industries, but focusing on the aviation industry, there is no
doubt with the surge back in travel that there have been some
extraordinary challenges in meeting the demands.
In the aviation industry, there were shortages even before
COVID, and we knew that there were increased retirements that
you saw, that there were not as many folks coming into the
workforce.
And you are seeing an exploding industry, whether it is the
aerospace--I know the chairman was telling me before the
hearing that he was thinking about spending some of his excess
$28 million on a trip to space--and we are seeing an explosion
there in that industry, as well as unmanned systems drones and
other technologies that are causing a surge in demand for
aviation, for aerospace workforce.
In the 2018 authorization bill, as the chairman noted, we
did create grant programs. We created a task force, trying to
improve employment, improve diversity in the task force as
well.
And I am very proud in my home State and in our district in
Louisiana, right on the campus of the Baton Rouge Airport, they
are opening up the Helix Aviation Academy, which is going to
start its first sixth grade class this year and then go on to
seventh and eighth grade as well, trying to play our role at
home in trying to meet the future demands of the workforce.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important that as we work
forward that we are informing people about the opportunities
that are there.
There have been studies showing that there were
misconceptions in the future of the occupation of the career,
the opportunities that are there, and I think that we have got
to do a better job helping to inform the public through some of
the programs we created through the 2018 bill, the workforce
training bills, to ensure that the public understands, that
students understand about the huge opportunities that are
there.
It is important because the United States, we expect to
remain the global leaders in aerospace and in aviation, and if
we have workforce shortages, we are not going to be able to
maintain that edge and have the professionals and the expertise
that we have had in the past.
We also need to develop a workforce for new and emerging
careers, including drone pilots, cybersecurity professionals,
and commercial space transportation engineers.
We need to partner with labor, industry, and academia to
address these issues which will be critical to ensuring that we
maintain our leadership.
Mr. Chair, I look forward to hearing from the witnesses
today, and before we break, I do want to ask unanimous consent
that the statement by Mark Baker from the Aircraft Owners and
Pilots Association be included in the record.
Mr. Larsen. So ordered.
[The information follows:]

Prepared Statement of Mark Baker, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Submitted for the
Record by Hon. Garret Graves
Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association's (AOPA) perspective on ``Bridging the
Gap: Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation
Workforce''.
AOPA is the world's largest aviation membership organization
representing the general aviation interests of more than 300,000
aircraft owners and pilots across the country. Our members collectively
operate over 85% of all general aviation (GA) aircraft in the United
States and represent two-thirds of all pilots, making AOPA the largest
civil aviation organization in the world.
AOPA was founded in 1939 and for over eighty years we have stayed
true to our mission by protecting and defending freedom to fly,
ensuring that safety remains our north star, and helping guide this
uniquely American experience so we can pass it along, better than we
received it, to the next generation of aviators. Getting the next
generation of Americans, especially young people from diverse
backgrounds, interested in aviation and aerospace is vital to our
industry's future.
There are so many positive things happening within aviation to
address our workforce challenges and improve diversity, but
unfortunately the left hand often doesn't know what the right hand is
doing. Why are commercial carriers pulling away pilots from the
military? Why is the Defense Department paying large bonuses to
military pilots to keep them? Why are we 2,000 fighter pilots short
today? Why do more than 70% of student-pilots not complete training?
Why is there a significant shortage with skilled aviation technicians?
One of the biggest challenges facing our industry is ensuring that
the United States has a well-qualified, well-trained and diverse
workforce to meet the demands that are present today and will remain
well into the future.
Workforce Challenges and Congressional Action:
Boeing's 2020-2039 Pilot and Technician Outlook estimated a need
for more than 760,000 new pilots worldwide of which more than 200,000
are needed in North America over the next 20 years. The report also
mentioned that 730,000 new aviation technicians will be needed around
the world. A Boeing executive summary reiterates that ``meeting the
projected long-term demand'' for aviation positions ``will require a
collective effort across the global aviation industry'' as ``tens of
thousands of pilots, technicians and cabin crew members reach
retirement age over the next decade.'' The company says educational
outreach and career pathway programs ``will be essential to inspiring
and recruiting the next generation.''
We applaud this Committee for including two aviation workforce
development grant programs (aircraft pilots and aviation maintenance
technical workers) in the 2018 FAA Reauthorization law. This is an
outstanding provision intended to introduce high school students and
others to science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) aviation
education and opportunities, as well as training in aviation and
aerospace skills.
Most people that aspire to become aviators start in general
aviation, so it is important that we collaborate on efforts to ensure
that this pipeline remains open to all. The aircraft pilot grant
program supports the creation and delivery of curriculum designed to
provide high school students with meaningful science, technology,
engineering, math and aviation education and encouraging our nation's
youth to become the next generation of commercial, general aviation,
drone or military pilots.
The aviation technical workforce grant program includes
scholarships, apprenticeships, establishing new training programs,
purchasing equipment for schools, and supporting career transition for
members of the armed forces.
These two programs are each authorized at $5 million per year
through fiscal year (FY) 2023, and Congress appropriated full funding
for these programs in both FY20 and FY21. We are pleased to see the
Fiscal Year 2022 Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban
Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill approved by the
Appropriations Committee last week recommends full funding for these
grant programs in FY22.
We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Peter DeFazio, Ranking
Member Sam Graves, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rick Larsen, and
Subcommittee Ranking Member Garret Graves, as well as the Members on
the Committee who have expressed their support for full funding of
these aviation workforce grant programs.
While the FAA was slow to establish both programs, the agency is
currently reviewing applications and anticipates awarding grants by the
end of this calendar year.
AOPA Initiatives to Address the Next Generation of Pilots and Improve
Diversity:
AOPA has also taken a leadership role in developing our future
aviation workforce by getting young people interested in aviation
through programs such as the AOPA Foundation High School Initiative.
By providing high-quality STEM-based aviation education to high
school students nationwide, AOPA is opening the door to aviation
careers for thousands of teens from diverse backgrounds.
The courses are designed to capture the imagination and give
students from diverse backgrounds the tools to pursue advanced
education and careers in aviation fields. Working with professional
instructional designers, AOPA is currently offering three years of a
four-year high school aviation STEM program that falls along two
tracks--pilot and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The fourth year of
the pilot track program completed field testing in June and will be
available to schools nationwide for the 2021-2022 school year. The
fourth year of the UAS program is currently in development.
AOPA's High School Initiative program conforms to Common Core math
and science standards, Next Generation Science Standards, FAA Airmen
Certification Standards and keeping with career and technical education
best practices, will lead to a certification or industry-accepted test,
such as the FAA Private Pilot knowledge test or a Part 107 small UAS
(drone) pilot certification.
For the 2020-2021 school year, our curriculum was being used by
more than 8,000 students in more than 200 schools in 36 states. For the
2021-2022 school year, interest continues to grow. More than 350
schools in 41 states have expressed interest in using the program for
the 2021-2022 school year.
We are seeing a dramatic improvement in gender demographics and
ethnic diversity when comparing students using the curriculum during
the 2020-2021 school year to the current professional pilot population
as indicated in the charts below.

[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

In addition, schools using our curriculum include rural, urban, and
suburban schools of all sizes, including many schools in economically
disadvantaged communities. For the 2020-2021 school year, more than 22%
of participating schools were considered high poverty by the Department
of Education, with 75-100% of students eligible for free and reduce
priced meals. In addition, 56% of participating schools were Title 1
eligible.
The interest in AOPA's curriculum from high schools across the
country has been overwhelming and we look forward to working with the
Committee to ensure that high schools who want to teach students about
aviation and all that it offers actually have that opportunity.
National Center for the Advancement of Aviation Act:
There is no mistaking that good programs exist within the aviation
industry trying to address the workforce challenges, such as the AOPA
High School Initiative or governmental organizations such as the two
aviation workforce development programs. What has been lacking is the
necessary coordination and communication between the various sectors to
ensure that we have a more cohesive approach to workforce issues and to
ensure our aviation and aerospace workforce in the United States
remains competitive.
In order to meet bold challenges, we need bold initiatives. This
will be a formidable challenge and one we must confront together--both
industry and government.
Mr. Chairman, the bipartisan and bicameral National Center for the
Advancement of Aviation Act (H.R. 3482/S.1752) introduced in the House
by you, Congressman Carson (D-Ind) and Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska)
and in the Senate by Senators Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Duckworth (Illinois)
is that bold initiative.
We strongly believe standing up a federally chartered 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit national aviation center will facilitate cooperation,
collaboration, and coordination across all sectors of aviation: civil,
commercial, and military--which is so desperately needed.
A national aviation center would bring the industry together by
fostering programs that create a diverse and skilled aviation
workforce, ensuring the deployment of STEM aviation educational
opportunities for high school students, leveraging the sharing of new
and emerging flight training methods, and conducting safety and
economic data trend analysis.
A National Center for the Advancement of Aviation would do more to
grow, develop, and promote aviation and bring the needed and long
overdue collaboration across our collective industry, while also
allowing the FAA to focus on its core mission: air traffic, safety
regulations, and addressing aircraft and airman certification issues.
This national aviation center can unite our collective efforts to
ensure that we have a more diverse industry. If we are to create a
pipeline of qualified and well-trained talent, then we must look far
and wide, and include those individuals who may not have been on our
radar in the past. We need more women and minorities in our industry at
all levels and in all positions. We need more professionals from
underserved corners of society. It's not only the best thing to do, but
the right thing to do. As shown by AOPA's High School Initiative
program demographics, if students are simply provided access to these
opportunities, they can help build a better and more diverse aviation
workforce.
The NCAA would be a private entity and no general fund taxpayer
dollars would be used to support it. The bill calls for funding the
initiative by using a small percentage (5%) of the interest accrued
annually on the taxes and fees collected from those who use the system
and are deposited into the aviation trust fund.
Despite the impact in 2020 from the COVID pandemic, taxes and fees
deposited into the aviation trust fund totaled more than $18 billion
dollars each year. As people begin to fly again, we'll see this number
get back to normal and maybe even exceed what we've seen in the past.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, in 2019, the interest on
revenues deposited into the aviation trust fund totaled more than $346
million dollars. In the scheme of things, using just 5% of that
interest, along with industry support, is a small investment to ensure
efficiencies and effectiveness are realized for an industry which
supports more than 11 million jobs and contributes more than $1.6
trillion per year to the national economy.
The NCAA bill has support from virtually the entire aviation
industry including general aviation, airlines, airports, manufacturers,
unions, schools, and other entities involved in all segments of
aviation and aerospace. More than 180 organizations, representing
hundreds of thousands of Americans, have already expressed support for
this bill.
As of today, HR 3482 includes a number of bipartisan cosponsors
including several from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:
Allred, Auchincloss, Bost, Brownley, Carson, Cohen, Fitzpatrick, Guest,
Eddie Bernice Johnson, Hank Johnson, Kahele, Katko, Larsen, Mace,
Norton, Pappas, Payne, Stauber, and Young. We appreciate their support
and encourage all Members of the Committee to cosponsor this needed
legislation.
Conclusion:
Private and governmental organizations working together to address
the development and sustainability of the aviation workforce and
leveraging the knowledge of organizations and federal agencies are all
vital to protect and grow the aviation industry.
This is exactly what the NCAA will do, and we believe a national
center will not only address our future workforce challenges but will
also ``Bridge the Gap and Improve Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S.
Aviation Workforce.''

Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you.
Mr. Larsen. Do you yield back?
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Yes.
[Mr. Graves of Louisiana's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Louisiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Aviation
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this
hearing today, and I thank all the witnesses for joining us today.
Mr. Chairman, you can look at the statistics and it is crystal
clear that we can make significant improvements in diversity. I believe
the number of pilots that are women in the United States comprises
about 7 percent and for flight engineers, it is even lower than that at
4.3 percent. We can make improvements in diversifying and better
including communities of color in aviation professions, including
flight mechanics, pilots, engineers, and others.
But Mr. Chairman, I think we need to take a step back and look at
the huge shortages in our workforce across the United States. The
aviation industry is certainly no exception to that. We have stepped
in, like with the payroll support program, trying to ensure that we
addressed issues when we saw extraordinary pandemic-related drops in
commercial passenger travel. Obviously, it is impossible to maintain a
workforce with those drops in numbers. I know when I flew to
Washington, DC yesterday, DCA Reagan National Airport was probably the
busiest I have seen since the pandemic. Recently in Atlanta, I was
there and only two businesses in the entire concourse were open due to
workforce shortages.
I think some of the statistics are clear that states that stepped
in early and cut off the supplemental unemployment assistance have seen
an increase in employment. We have to work to make sure that all
industries have a workforce pipeline, especially the aviation industry.
There is no doubt, with the surge back in travel, that there have been
some extraordinary challenges in meeting the passenger demands.
In the aviation industry, there were workforce shortages before
COVID-19, due to increasing retirements, fewer folks joining the
workforce, and air travel demand growing. Whether aerospace, unmanned
aircraft systems, or other technologies, there remains a surge in
demand for aviation and aerospace workforce.
In the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, as the Chairman noted, we
did create grant programs and task forces to improve employment levels
and workforce diversity. I am very proud that my home state and our
district in Louisiana--right on the campus of the Baton Rouge Airport--
are opening the Helix Aviation Academy, which is going to start its
first 6th grade class this year, which will then go on to the 7th and
8th grade as well. We are trying to play our role at home in trying to
meet the future demands of the workforce.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important that we inform people about
the opportunities that are there. There have been studies showing there
are misconceptions about the future of careers and opportunities there.
We have to do a better job of informing the public through some of the
programs we created with the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act and the
workforce training programs, to ensure the public and students
understand the huge opportunities out there.
It is important because the United States expects to remain the
global leader in aerospace and aviation, and if we have workforce
shortages, we are not going to be able to maintain that edge and have
the professionals and expertise we have had in the past.
We also need to develop a workforce for new and emerging careers,
including drone pilots, cybersecurity professionals, and commercial
space transportation engineers.
We need to partner with labor, industry, and academia to address
these issues which will be critical to ensuring that we maintain our
leadership.
Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today.

Mr. Larsen. I would note for the record the ranking
member's comments about my desire to fly were apocryphal at
best, and folks can look up the word ``apocryphal'' for the
definition.
With that, I will now recognize the chair of the full
committee, Representative DeFazio of Oregon.
You are recognized.
Mr. DeFazio. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for holding this
hearing.
I think it is perhaps the first time the committee has
addressed this issue through a full hearing, just like last
year for the first time we heard from the exploited and
underpaid service workers at the airports.
I mean, these are things that need to be exposed, and they
need to be resolved, and they can be resolved.
You mentioned a number of the provisions in the 2018 FAA
authorization, which should help. We are seeing some progress
on the industry side, more by some airlines than others, but we
want to certainly encourage that.
The numbers are miserable. Over 50 percent of the
population is female; 7 percent are commercial pilots and 2.4
percent are aircraft mechanics. Thirteen percent of the
population is Black; 3.4 percent are commercial pilots.
Eighteen percent of the population is Latino/Hispanic; 5
percent are commercial pilots. Asians are 6 percent of the
population; 2 percent are commercial pilots.
We need to meaningfully deal with these issues, and as was
noted by both speakers, we need more talented people in this
industry. We need them both onboard as pilots, but we also need
people on the ground as mechanics; great-paying jobs that do
not require as significant of an investment in education as
becoming a pilot.
We have noted before that there is a substantial barrier to
becoming a pilot, and that is the extraordinary cost of the
education and the training that is necessary.
There are some who say, ``Well, maybe we should roll back
the 1,500-hour rule to lessen the cost.'' And I do not believe
that is prudent, and I would not support that.
I fought for many years, starting in the 1990s, on the
hours of training for commercial pilots and noted for many
years it took many more hours to become a hairdresser in
Oregon, 600, as opposed to I think it was 250 or 350 for a
second seat on the plane. And we saw the horrible results in
Colgan Air, and we finally got those changes done.
Finding ways to reduce these barriers to induce young
people--for mechanics, a lot of young people are not aware
about what a great trade it would be and how they will be
earning way more shortly after they finish their
apprenticeships than their friends who go on to a 4-year
college with many degrees.
So there are great opportunities out there. I will not
repeat the things in the 2018 bill that the chairman talked
about. I am looking forward to hearing from the witnesses on
their ideas for solutions today.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Mr. DeFazio's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Larsen, for calling today's hearing on the need to
improve the diversity of the aviation industry's workforce.
Unfortunately, we're still a long way from attaining true equality
for all in this country. And while the federal government and many
industries in the private sector have improved the diversity of their
respective worker bases, the aviation industry has not. When you look
at the data, you have the sense that the aviation industry is still
taking the first step to achieve a workforce that reflects the racial,
ethnic, and gender identification composition of the country as a
whole.
More than half of the U.S. population--50.8 percent--is female,
according to the latest Census data. Yet only 2.4 percent of aircraft
mechanics and just 7 percent of commercial pilots are women.
On the subject of pilots, we have two witnesses today representing
the Latino Pilots Association and the Organization of Black Aerospace
Professionals. So let's look at the pilot profession specifically.
More than 13 percent of the U.S. population is Black. Yet only 3.4
percent of commercial pilots are Black.
More than 18 percent of the population is Latino or Hispanic.
Percentage of Latino or Hispanic commercial pilots: 5.
Six percent of the population is Asian. Two percent of commercial
pilots are.
Kids who are growing up in socioeconomically disadvantaged
families--of all races and ethnicities--also face an undeniable
financial barrier, especially to professions like pilots. If you
graduate from high school and decide to pursue a four-year aviation-
related degree at a private university and obtain your progressive
pilot licenses at the same time, you might well rack up $150,000 to
$250,000 in debt. That's not an appealing proposition for anyone,
especially one entering a profession where starting pay has
historically been as low as $18,000 per year--although most regional
carriers have done the right thing and increased pilots' starting pay
to more sustainable levels in recent years.
This committee does not have jurisdiction over matters like student
loans, but I will say this: There is no universe in which I would
advocate for rolling back the stringent pilot training rules enacted in
2010 to solve a problem--pilot supply--that doesn't relate to safety,
even one as serious as the problem we're discussing today. There are
other ways to address that issue, and if anyone suggests we should chip
away at safety rules regarding training to address a workforce issue,
they're sorely mistaken and will find no reception with me for those
views.
Although the representation of minority groups within the pilot and
other aviation professions have improved over the years, the disparity
couldn't be more apparent. Nonetheless, Congress, the Executive Branch,
and the industry itself has recognized the problem, and work to address
it is underway.
For example:
Pursuant to Congressional mandates that we included in
the 2018 FAA reauthorization bill, the FAA and DOT have created two
expert panels: one to improve youth access to aviation through high
school technical programs, and the other to promote organizations that
recruit and mentor women in new aviation industry jobs.
In the same legislation, we authorized two programs in
which the FAA will provide grants, totaling $10 million per year in the
aggregate, to support the training and recruitment of new mechanics and
pilots.
Three FAA offices and steering committees provide
additional support for the recruitment and training of a future
aviation workforce that reflects the diversity of the country.
In April 2021, one of the biggest four U.S. carriers
committed to ensuring that at least half of an anticipated 5,000 pilot
candidates will be women and people from underrepresented communities.
The airline also pledged $1.2 million in scholarships to help address
financial barriers to the airline pilot career path for students.
Another of the Big 4 carriers is providing $350,000 in
grants to nine aviation high schools around the country, many of which
serve racially and socioeconomically diverse students, as part of an
effort to hire 2,000 new mechanics over the next decade.
Since 2019, an aerospace industry trade group has funded
$120,000 in grants to schools in low-income communities and connected
more than 80,000 students with rocketry and aerospace career mentors.
Further grants totaling $50,000 are expected to be disbursed to schools
in underserved communities next year through this initiative.
Last August, an aviation maintenance and repair company
created a program at schools located near its repair stations to
demonstrate how students can learn skills leading to multiple career
paths at the company, hopefully with the outcome of diversifying the
aviation maintenance workforce.

But this is clearly not enough. The aviation industry and the FAA,
with respect to its own workforce, must embrace a ``diversity culture''
with the same commitment that led to the top-down adoption of strong
safety cultures that reduced the rate of fatal U.S. air carrier
accidents from two, sometimes four, per year in the 1990s to just two
in the last 12 years. Diversity must be a value embraced and lived
every day by everyone, starting at the top with CEOs and other
leadership.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about what this
committee can do to energize further commitment to diversity among
private-sector aviation employers, as well as ensure that the FAA's
attention to the public interest in a diverse aviation workforce is not
redirected.

Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
And I now will go to the witnesses on today's panel. I am
going to introduce each one as they testify.
First will be Dr. Rebecca Lutte, associate professor,
Aviation Institute, University of Nebraska at Omaha. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
And without objection our witnesses' full statements will
be included in the record.
Dr. Lutte, you are recognized for 5 minutes.

TESTIMONY OF REBECCA LUTTE, Ph.D., CFII, MEI, ASSOCIATE
PROFESSOR, AVIATION INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA;
CLAUDIA ZAPATA-CARDONE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY
RELATIONS AND OUTREACH, LATINO PILOTS ASSOCIATION; ICEMA D.
GIBBS, VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, JetBlue AIRWAYS; JOEL WEBLEY,
CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ORGANIZATION OF BLACK AEROSPACE
PROFESSIONALS; AND KYLE J. KAISER, PRESIDENT, VIPER TRANSITIONS

Ms. Lutte. Thank you.
Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address the
subcommittee to discuss developing a diverse aviation
workforce.
I am an associate professor at the University of Nebraska
at Omaha Aviation Institute and serve on the FAA's Women in
Aviation Advisory Board. I am here speaking for myself as an
aviation professional with research experience in aviation
workforce and diversity.
My primary area of research is women in aviation.
It is essential for the future of the aviation industry
that we have broad representation within our workforce. A
diverse representation of thought results in enhanced safety,
innovation, and profitability.
In addition, to meet the workforce needs of the future, we
simply must target a wider talent pool. The goal is to recruit
and retain the highest level of talent for the future of the
industry.
Many groups remain significantly underrepresented in
aviation. Overall women make up less than 20 percent of the
aviation workforce in most occupations. The largest gender gaps
continue to be in the areas of senior leadership positions,
professional pilots, and maintenance technicians.
Only approximately 5 percent of airline pilots are women.
Women in maintenance represent one of the greatest gender
gaps in the industry at 2.5 percent.
Further, the workforce in many aviation occupations lacks
ethnic and racial diversity. For example, BLS data indicate the
pilot population is 94 percent White, 3.4 percent Black or
African American, 5 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 2.2 percent
Asian.
It is especially important to note that many of these
numbers have changed very little over many years, and this
brings me to my first recommendation.
We must have better data on the numbers of women and
underrepresented groups within aviation. What gets measured
gets done. Establishing a comprehensive system of tracking data
and reporting on trends is the only way to verify the diversity
investments and efforts are working.
As a minimum, the FAA should expand the data published for
airman certification to include race and ethnicity.
To increase the number of women in aviation, we need to
address the barriers. Research has shown that barriers include
a need for increased emphasis on youth outreach; lack of women
in leadership positions; the high cost of entry, particularly
for flight training; difficulties in balancing the demands of
family and work; and negative culture to include gender bias
and sexual harassment.
Recommendations to address these barriers include formal
mentorship and sponsorship programs, increased access to
financial aid for students, and family-friendly policies, such
as paid family leave.
The last barrier to discuss is perhaps the hardest to
tackle. The evidence is clear that culture is a deterrent that
hinders the ability to recruit, advance, and retain women in
aviation.
Changing culture requires a change to the overall system.
That includes looking at artifacts of culture like language,
uniform, and representation in images.
And in addition, to change the environment,
underrepresented groups must be part of decisionmaking and
considered for leadership positions.
And lastly, there needs to be more effective education and
awareness of the existence of bias and harassment and methods
to address it.
I have talked about the significant gap of underrepresented
groups in aviation, some of the barriers, and some
recommendations, but let me end on an encouraging note.
In my over 30 years in aviation, I have never seen so much
momentum behind efforts to broaden representation in our
industry. We have seen strong initiatives from industry, like
the United Aviate Academy. We have best practices for aviation
outreach to underrepresented groups, such as Women in
Aviation's Girls in Aviation Day, and the many youth programs
at the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals.
And perhaps one of the best indicators is the FAA's Women
in Aviation Advisory Board. The final report of this board is
targeted for release in the first quarter of 2022. It
represents many hours of work by industry leaders to identify
bold recommendations to meet the goal of creating broader
representation for the future success of aviation.
I encourage you to carefully review that report when
completed.
I will leave you with the following thought. Every system
is perfectly designed to give us the results that we get. If we
want increased representation in our aviation workforce, it is
time to change the system.
Thank you for your time.
[Ms. Lutte's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Rebecca Lutte, Ph.D., CFII, MEI, Associate
Professor, Aviation Institute, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to address the Subcommittee
to discuss developing a diverse aviation workforce.
My name is Becky Lutte, PhD, CFII, MEI. I am an Associate Professor
at the Aviation Institute at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I
also serve on the FAA's Women in Aviation Advisory Board. I am here
speaking for myself as an aviation professional with research
experience in aviation workforce and diversity. My primary area of
research is women in aviation.
It is essential for the future of the aviation industry that we
have broad representation within our workforce. A diverse
representation of thought results in enhanced safety, innovation, and
profitability. In addition, to meet the workforce needs for the future
we simply must target a wider talent pool. The Boeing forecast \1\
predicts a need for 763,000 new civilian pilots, 739,000 new
maintenance technicians, and 903,000 new cabin crew members worldwide
over the next 20 years. Workforce demand remains a concern today, even
given the impact of the pandemic on the industry. As noted by CAE, the
fundamental factors impacting pilot demand prior to the pandemic have
not changed. Those factors include an aging workforce and anticipated
growth including an additional 11,000 corporate and business aircraft
worldwide in the next 10 years \2\ and over 43,000 new commercial
aircraft worldwide over the next 20 years \3\. The goal remains the
same, to recruit and retain the highest level of talent for the future
of the industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Boeing Pilot and Technician Outlook 2020-2039. https://
www.boeing.com/commercial/market/pilot-technician-outlook/
\2\ CAE Pilot Demand Outlook 2020. https://www.cae.com/cae-pilot-
demand-outlook-2020/
\3\ Boeing Commercial Market Outlook 2020-2039. https://
www.boeing.com/commercial/market/commercial-market-outlook/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data on underrepresented groups in aviation
Many groups remain significantly underrepresented in aviation.
Overall women make up less than 20% of the workforce in most aviation
occupations (see Table 1). The largest gender gaps continue to be in
the areas of senior leadership positions, professional pilots, and
maintenance technicians. Only approximately 5% of airline pilots are
women. Women in maintenance represent one of the greatest gender gaps
in the entire industry at 2.5%. By comparison, women represent 26% of
people working in STEM fields globally.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Korn Ferry. (2020). IAWA Soaring through the glass ceiling.
https://www.kornferry.com/
content/dam/kornferry/docs/pdfs/aviation-glass-ceiling.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 1: Women in the Aviation Workforce \5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Lutte, R. Women in Aviation Workforce Report 2021 edition
(anticipated publication Fall 2021).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aviation Occupation % Women
------------------------------------------------------------------------
< 10% Maintenance 2.5%
technicians. 3.0%
Airline executives 4.6%
(CEO, COO). 7.9%
Air Transport Pilots..
Total Pilots..........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10%-20% Aerospace engineers... 11.6%
Aviation higher 15.6%
education faculty. 16.7%
Airport managers...... 16.8%
Air traffic 19%
controllers. 19.4%
Aerospace and defense
CEOs (US).
Dispatchers...........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
21% > Flight attendants..... 79.2%
Travel agents......... 79.5%
------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is especially important to note that in many occupation areas,
the number of women in aviation has changed very little over the years.
As Figure 1 shows, many classifications of women in aviation have
changed by only about a percentage point or less in the last 15 years.
As the table shows, the percentage of women student pilots for 2019 was
13.8%. By comparison, the percentage of women private pilots was 6.63%
with an increase over the last 15 years of only .28%. The concern is
the lack of converting women student pilots to private pilots and the
implications for the future pipeline. An additional indication of women
in the aviation workforce is provided in Figure 2. Again, you can see
relatively little change in the percentage of women employed in
aviation related government organizations.
Figure 1: Women in Aviation Workforce Timeline \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Lutte, R. Women in Aviation Workforce Report 2021 edition
(anticipated publication Fall 2021).

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Figure 2: Women in Aviation Government Workforce \7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Lutte, R. Women in Aviation Workforce Report 2021 edition
(anticipated publication Fall 2021).

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Further, the workforce in many aviation occupations lacks ethnic
and racial diversity. Table 2 provides additional data on
underrepresented groups in aviation. This data is developed from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Current Population Survey (CPS) data
but is only available for a limited number of occupational areas in
aviation. Figure 3 also provides an example of timeline data broken
down by race and ethnicity for the occupational area of pilots and
flight engineers as noted in the BLS CPS. You can see greater variation
in this graph, but it still shows consistent underrepresentation with
relatively small overall changes. A more accurate indicator could be
gained if FAA airman certification data were also listed by race and
ethnicity.
Table 2: Aviation Workforce: Underrepresented groups

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
% Black or
Occupation Total % White African % Asian % Hispanic
Employed American or Latino
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pilots................................................. 155,000 94% 3.4% 2.2% 5%
Maintenance Technicians................................ 153,000 84.3% 10.8% 3.2% 23%
Aerospace Engineers.................................... 129,000 83.3% 6.8% 9.1% 10.5%
Flight Attendants...................................... 81,000 65% 19.3% 10.6% 10.3%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Figure 3: Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers Workforce Timeline

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

This brings me to my first recommendation. We simply don't have
great data on the number of women and underrepresented groups within
aviation. What gets measured gets done. Establishing a comprehensive
system of tracking data and reporting on trends is the only way to
verify that diversity investments and efforts are working. While the
FAA publishes airman certification data, which is a great source of
information, the data is currently provided for gender but cannot be
broken down by race or ethnicity. We need a good indication of not only
women in aviation but women who also belong to additional
underrepresented groups. As an example, we don't have good data on
black women pilots or maintenance technicians from the FAA
certification database. However, Sisters of the Skies reports that the
number of professional black women pilots are less than \1/2\ of 1% of
total professional pilots.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Sisters of the Skies. https://www.sistersoftheskies.org/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry should publish data on their workforce broken down by
gender, race and ethnicity, and occupation level so that we better
understand the number of members of underrepresented groups employed
and in leadership positions. One best practice example of this is
Boeing's recent move to publicly display on their website their
workforce data along with a message from leadership acknowledging the
efforts to do more.\9\ As stated in a recent Harvard Business Review
article, if a company doesn't track representation, the company isn't
serious about gender equity.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Boeing 2021 Global Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Report.
https://www.boeing.com/principles/
diversity-and-inclusion/annual-report/
\10\ Kersey, A. Women at Work. Harvard Business Review. https://
m.a.email.hbr.org/rest/
head/mirrorPage/@Cc_7lkxsfMcI-
wgTzP5zqwKkVfnCNi4tZO6ipfi_p2PqTN8NTWQkfvVIznSG8
yupg520tJsp3ymhp3FrwUmqPG7UrMiQgtsQAW20D-x_gVL_11Yu.html?deliveryName=
DM138446
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Women in aviation: Barriers to recruitment and retention and
recommendations to address them
To increase the number of women in aviation we need to address
barriers. Research has shown that the barriers include:
need for additional outreach
lack of women in leadership positions
need for leadership commitment to diversity and inclusion
cost of entry, particularly for flight training
family and work balance
navigating the workplace culture including gender bias
and sexual harassment

As an industry we need to continue efforts for youth outreach to
recruit the next generation of aviation professionals. Key elements for
successful outreach programs include preparation and preplanning,
identifying target groups and initiating contact, implementing the
activity, providing next steps to sustain the momentum, and conducting
an evaluation. These steps are depicted in Figure 4. Particularly for
underrepresented groups, outreach should also include a ``see it, be
it'' element. It is essential that youth outreach include broad
representation of aviation professionals so that the next generation
will see people that they identify with who are in aviation
occupations.
Figure 4: Model of Aviation Outreach \11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Lutte, R. (2018). Aviation outreach model and gap analysis:
Examining solutions to address workforce shortages. Collegiate Aviation
Review International. https://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/
index.php/CARI/article/view/7428

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Another key element is targeting the right age group. A survey by
the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), revealed that women in
aviation were first introduced to aviation most often at the age group
of younger than 10 (Figure 5). A total of 64% were introduced to
aviation at the age of 20 or younger. Clearly youth outreach at an
early age is essential. Some excellent examples of youth outreach
include the EAA Young Eagles program and the AOPA aviation high school
STEM curriculum. Standout examples of youth outreach targeting
underrepresented groups include Women in Aviation Girls in Aviation Day
and the many youth programs at the Organization of Black Aerospace
Professionals (OBAP) including their latest Girls Launch program.
Figure 5: Survey of women in aviation: Age first became interested in
aviation \12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ EAA. Women Soar Survey.

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

In the International Aviation Women's Association (IAWA) Soaring
Through the Glass Ceiling study, the two most important enablers for
the advancement of women in aviation were identified as having more
women role models in leadership and ensuring a strong and visible
commitment to diversity and inclusion from leadership.\13\ To address
the lack of women in leadership positions the industry needs additional
formal mentorship and sponsorship programs. This will provide an
opportunity to identify top talent to promote more members of
underrepresented groups into leadership positions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ Korn Ferry. (2020). IAWA Soaring through the glass ceiling.
https://www.kornferry.com/
content/dam/kornferry/docs/pdfs/aviation-glass-ceiling.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost of entry to the profession has been shown to be an additional
barrier. As an example, for someone pursuing a professional flight
degree at a university program, the flight training costs can increase
the total cost to the student by anywhere from $50,000 to $80,000
depending on the program. Recommendations to address this challenge
include increasing access to financial aid for students so that it not
only covers the current costs of tuition and fees but also covers the
additional costs associated with aviation specific training such as
flight or maintenance training. Scholarships assist in addressing the
cost barrier. Organizations such as Women in Aviation International
(WAI) and OBAP provide essential scholarship opportunities. This year
WAI will award over $450,000 in scholarships and the organization has
provided a total of over $14.5 million in scholarships.
A clear challenge for women in aviation has been family and work
balance. In a survey of women in aviation, 38% of the women surveyed
indicated that they had considered leaving the aviation industry.\14\
The top reason given for considering leaving was poor family and work
balance, followed by negative culture. The industry needs family
friendly policies, such as paid parental leave, to address these
challenges.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Lutte, R. Women in Aviation Survey results. https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/
342397027_WAI_Conference_2020_Lutte_Presentation_of_Women_in_Aviation_
Survey_Results
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last barrier to discuss is perhaps the hardest to tackle. The
evidence is clear that negative workplace culture, to include gender
bias and sexual harassment, is a deterrent to the ability to recruit
and retain women in aviation. This is supported by multiple studies.
For example, in an open-ended survey question of women in aviation,
when women were asked about the greatest challenge/barrier experienced
in their careers, the most often given response was related to a
negative workplace culture.\15\ In the IAWA Soaring Through the Glass
Ceiling study, 40% of women surveyed felt their voices were not heard
and \2/3\ felt like they were treated differently because of their
gender.\16\ This is also consistent with the broader field of tech.
According to a study by Accenture on women in tech, poor company
culture was the number one cause for women leaving their jobs.\17\ In
order to change culture, we need to change the system. That includes
looking at artifacts of culture such as language, uniforms, and
representation (images) in materials. A recommended guide to changing
language in aviation has been provided in the FAA Drone Advisory
Committee ebook (June 23, 2021).\18\ In addition to the artifacts of
culture, to change the environment we need more members of
underrepresented groups in decision making and leadership positions.
And lastly, there needs to be more effective education and awareness of
the existence of bias and harassment and methods to address it.
Changing culture also requires clear and visible commitment from
leadership within the industry that all will be respected, and anything
less will not be tolerated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ Lutte, R. Women in Aviation Survey results. https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/
342397027_WAI_Conference_2020_Lutte_Presentation_of_Women_in_Aviation_
Survey_Results
\16\ Korn Ferry. (2020). IAWA Soaring through the glass ceiling.
https://www.kornferry.com/
content/dam/kornferry/docs/pdfs/aviation-glass-ceiling.pdf
\17\ Accenture. (2020) Resetting tech culture: 5 strategies to keep
women in tech. https://
www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/PDF-134/Accenture-A4-GWC-Report-
Final1.pdf#zoom=50
\18\ FAA Drone Advisory Committee Public eBook. June 23, 2021.
https://www.faa.gov/uas/
programs_partnerships/drone_advisory_committee/media/
DAC_Public_eBook_06_23_
2021.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've talked about the significant gap of underrepresented groups in
aviation, some of the barriers, and some suggested recommendations. Let
me end on an encouraging note. In my over 30 years in aviation, I have
never seen so much momentum behind efforts to broaden representation in
our industry. We have seen strong initiatives from industry like the
United Aviate Academy program. We have best practices for aviation
outreach to underrepresented groups such as Women in Aviation Girls in
Aviation Day, and the many youth programs at the Organization of Black
Aerospace Professionals. Perhaps one of the best indicators is the FAA
Women in Aviation Advisory Board. The final report of this board is
targeted for release in the first quarter of 2022. It represents many
hours of work by industry leaders to identify bold recommendations to
meet the goal of creating broader representation for the future success
of aviation. I encourage you to carefully review the report when
completed. I'll leave you with the following thought, every system is
perfectly designed to give us the results that we get. If we want
increased representation in our aviation workforce, it's time to change
the system. Thank you for your time.

Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Dr. Lutte.
I now recognize Captain Claudia Zapata-Cardone, the
executive director of community relations and outreach, Latino
Pilots Association.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Good morning. Thank you, Chair Larsen,
Ranking Member Graves, and members of the subcommittee. It is
an honor to appear before you today.
My name is Claudia Zapata-Cardone, and I am a proud Latina
pilot, a daughter of Colombian immigrants, and a union member.
I am proud to fly for United Airlines as a captain on the
Airbus 320.
As someone who had a dream, I am grateful for the
opportunity to discuss with you today the importance of
breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for all those
who dream of flying because that is what we need to do if we
want to guarantee a strong, robust, and highly trained pilot
workforce, while also maintaining the safest air transportation
system in the world.
When I was growing up, my father worked at the airport, and
we would bring him dinner almost every night. I remember
thinking how magical it must be to fly an airplane.
My parents faced a lot of hardships along the way, each
parent often working two jobs in order to support our family,
but they were determined to chase their American dream.
Looking at those airplanes every night, I did not think
that being a pilot was an option because I had never seen a
pilot that looked like me, but the older I got, the more
determined I was, and because of the work ethic instilled in me
by my parents, I rolled up my sleeves and began the process
that ultimately led me here today.
I feel like I have achieved something beyond what my
parents could have ever imagined, which is why I am committed
to creating a more diverse and inclusive aviation workforce,
while also ensuring that the United States continues to remain
the global leader in aviation safety.
Currently I serve as executive director for community
relations with the Latino Pilots Association. In addition, I am
a proud, dues-paying member of the Air Line Pilots Association,
the world's largest pilot union.
Together, our outreach efforts are connecting with Latinx
students from around the country to educate and demonstrate the
amazing benefits of being an airline pilot. It is important
that more people who look like me are able to access this
profession and that we tap into the currently underrepresented
pool of potential airline pilots to ensure a healthy and robust
pipeline in the future.
LPA and ALPA are committed to changing what the pilot
community looks like while maintaining current safety
standards. There are several steps policymakers can take to
ensure we have an adequate supply of pilots, break down
barriers, and help foster a more diverse and inclusive aviation
workforce that reflects the communities and customers our
industry serves.
Chair Larsen, thank you for your leadership in sponsoring
the bipartisan Promoting Service in Transportation Act to help
attract the next generation of transportation professionals
while creating a more diverse workforce.
And the subcommittee's inclusion of the Women in Aviation
provision as part of the FAA reauthorization in 2018 is
producing meaningful benefits to expand opportunities for women
in our field.
Other ways Congress can help this mission is to align
Federal funding support for the education required to become an
airline pilot with that of other highly skilled professions.
Authorizing and increasing Federal educational aid programs,
such as the Pell grant program, would help provide financial
assistance to students following 2- and 4-year degree programs
at post-secondary higher education institutions in order to
cover the cost of aviation training.
Additionally, we should expand opportunities for those who
fought for our country to use their GI bill to help cover the
cost of 2- and 4-year flight training degree programs.
Congress could consider student loan cancellation programs
that would allow airline pilots to work for a specific period
in exchange for loan forgiveness.
And finally, we should review Government guidelines to
increase the number and amounts of subsidized loans available
to students for flight training and ensure students who receive
unsubsidized loans do not accrue interest on the loans while in
school.
Currently there are severe economic disincentives for
pilots considering employment at regional airlines, which serve
as a main avenue for individuals to enter the profession. It is
important that we improve this entry point to the piloting
career while maintaining the first officer qualification
requirements that have helped make U.S. air transportation the
safest mode of transportation in the world.
I believe we can and must do more as a Nation to open the
doors of opportunity for those currently underrepresented in
the piloting profession and maintain the highest safety
standards in the world.
Thank you.
[Ms. Zapata-Cardone's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Claudia Zapata-Cardone, Executive Director of
Community Relations and Outreach, Latino Pilots Association
On behalf of the Latino Pilots Association (LPA), I want to thank
you, Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
subcommittee for inviting me to appear before you today. My name is
Claudia Zapata-Cardone and I am a proud Latina pilot, daughter of
Colombian immigrants, and a union member. I am an also an Airbus A320
captain flying for United Airlines. As someone who had a dream, I am
grateful for the opportunity to discuss with you today the importance
of breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for all those who
dream of flying. Because that's what we need to do if we want to
guarantee a continued strong, robust, and highly trained pilot
workforce while also maintaining the safest air transportation system
in the world.
When I was growing up, my father worked at the airport and we would
bring him dinner almost every night. I remember thinking how magical it
must be to fly an airplane. My parents faced a lot of hardships along
the way, often working two jobs in order to support our family, but
they were determined to chase their American dream.
Looking at those airplanes every night, I didn't think that being a
pilot was an option because I had never seen a pilot who looked like
me. But the older I got, the more determined I was. And because of the
work ethic instilled in me by my parents, I rolled up my sleeves and
began the process that ultimately led me here today.
I feel like I've achieved something beyond what my parents could
have ever imagined, which is why I am committed to creating a more
diverse and inclusive aviation workforce, while also ensuring that the
United States continues to remain the global leader in aviation safety.
Currently, I serve as executive director for Community Relations with
the LPA. And, I am a proud, dues-paying member of the Air Line Pilots
Association, the world's largest pilot union. Together, our outreach
efforts are connecting with Latinx students from around the country to
educate and demonstrate the amazing benefits of being an airline pilot.
It is important that more people who look and sound like me are
able to access this profession. It's important that we tap into the
currently underrepresented pool of potential airline pilots to ensure a
healthy and robust pilot pipeline in the future. LPA and ALPA are one
hundred percent committed to changing what the pilot community looks
like while maintaining current safety standards.
According to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics \1\, the
racial makeup of our country's pilots is 92% white and 91% male. Last
year's figures show less than 3% of U.S. commercial pilots are African
Americans, fewer than 7% are Hispanic or Latinx, and a little more than
4% are Asian. Together, we can change this.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are several steps policy makers can take to ensure we have an
adequate supply of pilots, that we break down barriers, and we help
foster a more diverse and inclusive aviation workforce that reflects
the communities and customers our industry serves. Chairman Larsen,
thank you for your leadership in sponsoring the bipartisan Promoting
Service in Transportation Act to help spread the gospel about careers
in transportation to create a more diverse workforce. And this
subcommittee's inclusion of the Women In Aviation provision as part of
the FAA reauthorization in 2018 is producing meaningful benefits to
expand opportunities for women in our field.
Other ways Congress can help this collective mission is to align
federal funding support for the education required to become an airline
pilot with that of other highly skilled professions.
Authorizing and increasing federal educational aid
programs such as the Pell Grant Program would help provide financial
assistance to students following two- and four-year degree programs at
post-secondary higher education institutions in order to cover the
costs of aviation flight training.
Additionally, we should expand opportunities for those
who fought for our country to use their GI Bill to help cover the cost
of two- and four-year flight training degree programs.
Congress could also consider student loan cancellation
programs that would allow airline pilots to work for a specific period
in exchange for loan forgiveness.
And we should review government guidelines to increase
the number and amounts of subsidized loans available to students for
flight training and ensure students who receive unsubsidized loans do
not accrue interest on the loans while in school.

Currently, there are severe economic disincentives for pilots
considering employment at regional airlines, which serve as a main
avenue for individuals to enter the profession. It's important that we
improve this career entry point while maintaining the first officer
qualification requirements that have helped make U.S. air
transportation the safest mode of transportation in the world.
I believe we can--and must--do more as a nation to open the doors
of opportunity for those currently underrepresented in the piloting
profession.
Thank you for your continued oversight on this very important
topic.

Mr. Larsen. Thank you very much.
And now I want to turn to Ms. Icema Gibbs, the vice
president of corporate social responsibility and diversity,
equity, and inclusion at JetBlue.
Ms. Gibbs, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Gibbs. Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Larsen,
Ranking Member Graves, and members of the Subcommittee on
Aviation. My name is Icema Gibbs, and I am the vice president
of corporate social responsibility and diversity, equity, and
inclusion for JetBlue.
I am excited to speak to you today about JetBlue's efforts
to improve diversity and our recent changes in our recruiting
programs, and really, I want to talk about how the aviation
community can come together to become more inclusive and more
equitable.
As a founding member of JetBlue, I have been with the
airline since the very beginning, before we even had planes.
This is very personal to me. For almost 22 years, I can
honestly say I have often been the only person of color in the
room and quite often the only woman at the table.
With your help, we have an opportunity to diversify the
aviation workforce to better reflect the U.S. population, our
customer base, and the communities we serve.
Two parallel paths will help us in this industry: one,
increasing representation and, two, building awareness for
aviation careers as early as possible.
One direct way we are able to affect our hiring pipeline is
making sure that we are inclusive in that process. Over the
past year as we paused hiring during the pandemic, our talent
and acquisition team used their time to produce a new
interviewing method. It is called Blue Select.
As we reimagined our diversity, equity, and inclusion
strategy, we realized we had been using the same interviewing
methods for decades. While continuing to focus on our culture,
we completely rebuilt the process to reduce unconscious bias
and increase diversity in the process.
We are addressing inequities and helping to correct the
biases where they exist. We are tackling diversity recruiting
in three specific areas: focusing on frontline careers, such as
pilots and technicians; creating upward mobility in our support
centers; and developing a more diverse slate of officers and
directors.
Our goal is to create equity for all and reflect the
diverse communities and cultures we serve in all aspects of our
airlines. We are prioritizing an investment in our crewmembers
who are already passionate about our business and have a stake
in our culture and our success.
While we are a diverse organization overall, frontline
crewmembers specifically, that dwindles as we progress to each
level. Our greatest opportunity for improvement is within the
officer and director ranks where racial and ethnic composition
have remained stagnant.
Internally, we have developed new pathways to help more
frontline crewmembers transition from operational to corporate
services roles. These more prescribed pathways will enable a
more diverse slate of candidates to be in the talent pool who
ideally will grow into leadership roles.
We are creating an inclusive environment where all
crewmembers can envision themselves in leadership roles because
they actually see people who look like them already in these
positions.
And we are holding ourselves accountable. We are trying to
double the race and ethnic minority representation of officers
and directors from 12.5 percent today to 25 percent and
increase representation of women in officer and director levels
from 32 percent to 40 percent, and we are trying to do this all
by 2025.
Our Gateway suite of programs launched in 2008 helped to
ensure pilots find their path at JetBlue and now includes an
additional path for internal crewmembers interested in
transitioning to careers as technicians.
With our internal programs, we are hoping to alleviate two
common barriers: financing and the risk of leaving a permanent
job while training full time. We provide a conditional job
offer based on the successful completion of these programs.
Our goal is for cost not to be an obstacle for those who
are selected into these programs.
Moreover, our Tech Ops apprentice program is an opportunity
for well-paying jobs for those who have already completed their
training and exams to earn an airframe and powerplant
certificate. It is a 12-month training program where
apprentices can gain hands-on experience and mentoring while
working in the operation.
Upon successful completion, apprentices are offered
positions as technicians.
We also work with Aviation High School, which is right in
our backyard, right down the street here in Queens, and that
school has prepared high school students for becoming aircraft
mechanics.
The caveat is Aviation High School is only one of five high
schools in the Nation that offer these types of programs.
So, in closing, JetBlue's diversity, equity, and inclusion
centers around growth and creating a more inclusive workspace
that drives better decisionmaking and innovation.
Thank you.
[Ms. Gibbs' prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Icema D. Gibbs, Vice President of Corporate
Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, JetBlue
Airways
Opening
Good morning Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves and
members of the Subcommittee on Aviation.
My name is Icema Gibbs, and I'm Vice President Corporate
Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at JetBlue
Airways.
I am excited to speak today about JetBlue's efforts to
improve diversity, our recruiting efforts and how the aviation industry
can work together to become more inclusive and equitable.
As a founding Crewmember of JetBlue, I have been with the
airline since the very beginning, before we even had planes.
This is very personal to me. Over the past 22 years,
quite honestly I have often been the only person of color in the room,
and many times one of the only women at the table.
With your help, we have an opportunity to diversify the
aviation workforce to better reflect the U.S. population, our customer
base and the communities we serve.
Two parallel paths will help us get there as an
industry--(1) increasing representation, and (2) building awareness for
aviation careers as early as possible.
For example, if children see pilots who look like them,
then they can dream of becoming a pilot.
Truth is, aviation is not as well known or as common a
career as say law, medicine or education.
Even small successes with the aviation workforce take
time and dedication. After all, it takes a great deal of training to
become an airline pilot, and years of training to become an Aircraft
Technician, not to mention steep financial commitments.
One of most proactive ways we can fuel our pipeline is
through public-private partnerships and educational initiatives to
encourage students to pursue STEM paths as early as possible.
These programs help expose historically marginalized and
underrepresented communities to new career paths and the many
possibilities within aviation, early on.
Setting the Stage
Women in Aviation--During the last two decades, the
number of women involved in the aviation industry has steadily
increased and women can be found in nearly every aviation occupation
today. However, the numbers are small by comparison.
Women pilots, for example, represent only 8.6% of all
pilots, and just 4.6% of commercial airline pilots, per the FAA. These
numbers have not noticeably changed in decades.
Black People in Aviation--Only 3.4% of all aircraft
pilots are Black per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though Black
Americans make up 13.4% of the U.S. population.
Aircraft Technicians
+ 5.4% of aircraft technicians are women, per Women in Aviation
+ 10.8% are Black
+ 3.2% are Asian
+ 23% are Hispanic or Latinx, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics
It is clear that these numbers do not align with the
overall U.S. population. What's holding our industry back from doing
more outreach and trying to be more inclusive? When we don't, by the
time many become aware of careers in aviation, it is often too late or
financial resources are a barrier.
At JetBlue, we are starting from within. Our internal
programs create access and exposure to well-paying jobs and encourage
people from diverse educational and socio-economic backgrounds,
providing access to higher paying jobs.
This is one way that we're making these jobs more
accessible to a greater talent pool, which will help us shore up our
pilot and technician ranks as we potentially face a challenge with
supply in the coming years.
Our Hiring Process
One direct way we are able to affect our pipeline is
through our hiring process. Over the past year, as we paused hiring
during the pandemic, our Talent Acquisition team used the time to
create a new method of interviewing called BlueSelect.
At JetBlue, we have always prioritized hiring new
crewmembers who add to our Company's Culture because we know it's our
crewmembers who make the difference and deliver the award-winning
JetBlue experience to customers every day.
As we reimagined our diversity, equity and inclusion
strategy, we realized we had been using the same interviewing method
for decades. While continuing to focus on culture add, we completely
rebuilt this process to reduce unconscious biases, and increase
diversity in the process.
We're addressing inequities and helping to correct biases
where they exist, starting from within.
We are tackling diversity recruiting in three specific
areas:
+ focusing on frontline careers such as Pilots and Technicians,
+ creating upward mobility within our Support Centers (Corporate
offices),and
+ developing a more diverse slate of Officers and Directors
Our goal is to create equity for all and reflect the
diverse communities and cultures we serve in all aspects of our
airline.
We're prioritizing an investment in our Crewmembers who
are already passionate about our business and have a stake in our
culture and success.
Leadership Development/Corporate Services Roles
While we are a diverse organization overall, our
frontline crewmember population is quite diverse but that dwindles at
each progressive level.
Our greatest opportunity for improvement is within the
Officer and Director ranks where the racial/ethnic composition has
remained stagnant.
Internally, we developed new pathways to help more
frontline crewmembers transition from operational to corporate services
roles. These more prescribed paths enable a more diverse slate of
candidates to be in the talent pool who ideally grow into leadership
roles.
We're creating an inclusive environment where all
crewmembers can envision themselves in leadership roles, because they
see people that look like them and with shared experiences already in
these positions.
We are holding ourselves accountable to meet our
commitments including:
+ Doubling race and ethnic minority representation at the
Officer and Director level, from 12.5 percent today to 25 percent by
the end of 2025
+ Increasing representation of women at the Officer and Director
level, from 32 percent today to 40 percent by the end of 2025.
Our Gateway Pathway Programs
Our Gateway suite of programs launched in 2008 to help
aspiring pilots find their path to JetBlue, and now includes an
additional path for internal crewmembers interested in transitioning to
careers as Technicians.
We're building a diverse pipeline within JetBlue to fly
and maintain our aircraft. Our programs open up access for both
internal and external candidates.
Our Gateway programs are making careers in our flight
decks and hangars accessible to an even broader array of qualified
candidates.
With our internal programs, we are helping to alleviate
two common barriers--financing and the risks of leaving a permanent job
while in training full-time. We provide a conditional job offer based
on successful completion of these programs.
Our goal is for cost to not to be an obstacle to those
selected to join the program.
Gateway College is our newest path and helps to lessen
obstacles to certain careers in aviation, and adds a level of certainty
to the process. Gateway College provides a defined and accessible
career path for crewmembers to transition into Pilot and Technician
roles, with the goal of expanding access to a broader internal talent
pipeline. Both flight and tech ops programs include a rigorous
selection process, training/education with a partner school, and then
an opportunity to build time/experience before joining JetBlue as a
Pilot or Technician.
We worked hard to provide some peace of mind by allowing
crewmembers to take a leave of absence for part of the program, and
offer access to affordable financing options.
The overall cost for this program will include tuition,
training and learning materials. Federal loans, grants and GI Bill
funding are available for eligible candidates, and additional funding
options will be available to cover any remaining costs of the program.
Gateway Select is our most diverse pathway. This launched
in 2017 for external candidates with no flying experience, but who had
the aptitude for a career with JetBlue.
The first class of First Officers to come from the
Gateway Select path began with JetBlue in May 2021.
Gateway Select's training curriculum takes the best from
selection programs used by theU.S. military, provides a comprehensive
training program, and applies the safety standards and federal
requirements for current pilots.
The program provides participants with the opportunity to
become JetBlue pilots after completing a rigorous four-year training
program which encompasses classroom learning, extensive real-world
flying experience and instruction in full-flight simulators
Our University Gateway Pathway launched in 2008, and is
currently the airline's longest-running pathway program for aviation
college students. Our partner schools are of the highest quality and
have all met specific criteria to be chosen for our program, one
element of which is that the program is accredited by the Aviation
Accreditation Board International (AABI).
Our Tech Ops Apprentice Program is an opportunity for
well-paying jobs for those who have already completed their training
and exams to earn the airframe & powerplant (A&P) certificate. In some
cases, the program is even available to those right out of high school
who have completed this qualification.
It's a 12-month training program where apprentices gain
hands-on experience in our operation and with our various fleets as
well as individual training and mentoring.
Apprentices receive an equivalent of 2-3 years of
industry experience, which will truly gear them up for success.
Upon successful completion, apprentices are promoted to
Technicians.
This speaks directly to our Partnership with Vocational
Schools such as Aviation High School right in our backyard of Queens,
NY. Aviation High School is a direct feeder into JetBlue.
It combines career and technical education (CTE) training
with rigorous academics in a spirited environment. Students have the
opportunity to graduate with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
certificate in either airframe or powerplant maintenance in addition to
a high school diploma, making them eligible for well-paying jobs, or
prepared to move onto college right after high school.
The caveat, Aviation High School is one of only five high
schools across the nation that offer this sort of CTE program.
This is a direct feeder to our industry's pipeline. If
more of these schools were prevalent throughout the country, this alone
would be a significant source for diverse candidates. This model should
be replicated.
Fueling the Pipeline as Early as Possible
We are also investing in the future of our industry and
forthcoming recruiting with our company-sponsored Foundation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected funding for
non-profits and education programs.
The JetBlue Foundation issued a round of rapid response
grants to help several STEM and aviation-focused organizations with
immediate needs, and support to continue their critical work reaching
students, many from underrepresented backgrounds, continue to pursue
their STEM paths.
It's truly a joint effort, and we already collaborate
with two great organizations--the Latino Pilots Association and the
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals.
+ We provide a special grant to the Latino Pilots Association, a
non-profit, volunteer organization focused on giving back to the Latinx
community, to assist with job placement support and access to financial
resources for members who were furloughed due to the pandemic.
+ We also have a long-standing relationship with the
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP). Each summer, the
JetBlue Foundation helps bring several OBAP Aviation Career Education
(ACE) summer programs to life, introducing aviation careers to students
ages 14-18.
Closing
In closing, inclusion and equity improve retention and
increase opportunities for well-rounded candidates.
JetBlue's DEI strategy centers on growth, and a more
inclusive workplace that drives better decision-making and innovation.
We are mobilizing our senior leadership team to help us
in creating a more equitable workplace. To ensure our success, some
metrics will be tied to compensation and goals for JetBlue's Officers
and Directors.
Progress in this area may seem slow, but it will take
time, dedication and resources.
As an industry, we must work together now, to fuel
tomorrow's pipeline.
Thank you for the opportunity to share JetBlue's views
today. I am happy to answer any questions.

Mr. Larsen. Thank you very much, Ms. Gibbs.
I now turn to Mr. Joel Webley, the chairman of the board of
directors of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals.
Mr. Webley, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Webley. Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves and
members of the subcommittee, my name is Joel Webley. I'm
chairman of the board of directors for the Organization of
Black Aerospace Professionals, and I am honored to appear
before you today on behalf of the more than 2,600 professional
members that we represent.
As an organization steeped in 45 years of advocacy and
service, OBAP is proud to stand on a foundation that focuses on
creating career opportunities in aerospace and aviation for
underrepresented communities.
At the core of all we do lies the mission to introduce,
educate, and empower Black Americans and other underrepresented
communities to create pathways to success through youth
programs, young professional mentorship, and career
development.
Each year we reach tens of thousands of youth program
participants and thousands of aerospace professionals removing
barriers to entry and providing access to information that will
begin the shift to change the tide of diversity in our
industry.
We believe with the support of partners at all levels, we
will influence change.
Today the aviation industry is grappling with how best to
improve inclusion and diversity. According to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, 93 percent of pilots are White males, and
further, less than 5 percent of CEOs and less than 13 percent
of top executives are women within the global airline industry.
This year, inclusion is top of mind for many CEOs with a
reported 77 percent having a diversity and inclusion strategy
or intending to put one in place. The aviation industry strives
to address skills gaps for the overall population to become
more diverse.
Cultivating diversity and the culture of inclusion is
likely to remain a key tenet for a successful organization in
the coming years.
Benefits of diversity. Although practicing inclusion and
bolstering diversity are good ethical practices, the aviation
industry also stands to benefit for boosting its diversity in
the following areas: new ideas and perspectives, talent gaps.
New ideas and different perspectives are more likely to
build a more well-rounded and diverse workforce. A 2016 Harvard
Business Review article states that diverse teams focus on
facts, process facts more clearly, and are more innovative.
A more diverse team can lead to a strong defense against
groupthink and stale ideas.
Improving the bottom line. According to the Center for
Talent Innovation, the companies that can reap a diversity
dividend unlock better understanding, underserved demographics,
and new areas for service altogether.
Further, McKinsey and Company found in 2019 that companies
in the top quartile for diversity outperformed those companies
in the fourth quartile by 36 percent in terms of profitability.
How to increase diversity. Aviation organizations and
Government can establish many different practices to grow
diversity, including measurement. As Dr. Lutte pointed out,
many businesses and agencies have made commitments to improve
diversity, but there is a large gap in the available data to
give decisionmakers a clear picture of where they currently
are, as well as updated information on how to understand the
effectiveness of diversity initiatives.
As an industry, it is critical that we measure what matters
and have a common data set from which to compare progress and
make adjustments. More granular data from organizations such as
the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Transportation,
Department of Education, and other nongovernmental entities
would be extremely helpful.
Other initiatives include promoting the attachment of
performance incentives to diversity goals and metrics
throughout the industry; introduction of increased mentoring
programs; and partnering with schools, for example, minorities
are often underrepresented in STEM subjects when obtaining
their education.
By working with schools to bring more female, Black, and
other minority speakers to campuses, the industry can inspire
more underrepresented groups to pursue an education that equips
them for the field and ultimately to join the field.
Partnering with special organizations, such as OBAP,
organizations can also provide mentorship and training to
groups that are underrepresented in aviation, encouraging the
next generation to join the industry.
Similarly, organizations such as the Sisters of the Skies,
Professional Asian Pilots Association, the Latino Pilots
Association, National Gay Pilots Association, and others
provide scholarships, mentorships, opportunities, professional
conferences, and networking opportunities to help their
members.
OBAP truly excels in creating programming that provides
tangible value to youth considering aviation careers and to
early career professionals looking to take the next step.
It is our sincere hope that the aim of this committee is to
create more resource opportunities so that we can continue our
important work into the future with Government and other
partners.
Thank you for your time, and I welcome any questions.
[Mr. Webley's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Joel Webley, Chairman, Board of Directors,
Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals
Challenges within the industry
Underrepresented/minority populations are not participating in
Aerospace careers commensurate with their white counterparts,
particularly in engineering (Illumoka, Milanovic; Grant, 2017), and the
aircraft pilot workforce (Ison, Herron, Weiland, 2016). A lack of
access to quality career and work opportunities has numerous negative
consequences on individuals and thereby their families and communities.
According to Ton,

``Low-wage workers live in a vicious cycle that prevents them
from moving up. Many work multiple jobs. The associated stress
undermines mental and physical health. Indeed, that stress
lowers cognitive functioning, creating a ``bandwidth tax''
equal to a loss of 13 IQ points. Performance suffers as it is
harder to keep up good attendance, focus on the job, be
productive, and do your best for customers or coworkers.
Unsurprisingly, these workers find it hard to climb the ladder
of opportunity that this country has historically provided.''
(Ton, 2020).

Furthermore, a lack of diversity in the aerospace industry only
stands to weaken the United States' position of pre-eminence within the
field (Geis, J. P., II, Garretson, P. A.,2015). By failing to promote
STEM and related disciplines to underrepresented populations.
OBAP's Mission
As congress examines the range of solutions to both diversify and
support critical staffing needs within the aerospace industry, OBAP has
spent 45 years as a partner focused on supporting target populations to
those ends.
While there may be varying approaches to the tackling the
challenges associated with a lack of diversity within the industry,
OBAP approaches the problem by designing interventions based on the
following theory of change:
``An individual who is equipped with the skills to identify and
begin a career in the aerospace industry, will have better
opportunities to improve the quality of life for themselves, their
families, and communities.''
At OBAP, we believe that a career in the aerospace industry creates
a pathway that can help to significantly reduce the likelihood of
individuals experiencing these effects. In a supporting relationship,
increasing diversity within an industry has the effect of serving
communities and being socially responsible by maintaining a workforce
that is reflective of the American society, increasing innovation
through a diversity of ideas challenging the status quo, and increasing
the return on investment of human capital by reaching out broadly to
all communities where talent exists (U.S. Office of Personnel
Management, 2020). Our goal is to ensure that individuals in target
populations are equipped with the skills to successfully pursue a
career in the aerospace industry.
The Aerospace industry continues to grow and provide career
opportunities for candidates with the requisite skill sets.
Additionally, these careers offer wages that consistently exceed that
of national averages (United States Department of Labor, 2020). OBAP
endeavors to facilitate aerospace career opportunities to
underrepresented populations by providing targeted educational,
professional development, and mentoring programs.
Our goals can be summarized as follows:
To motivate youth to become educationally prepared for
life
To increase the number of underrepresented minorities and
women professionals in aerospace and related industry careers
To advocate for the concerns of our membership and
constituencies
To be at the forefront of crucial conversations that
include minorities and women, or lack thereof, in executive leadership
positions or on governing boards

Our programmatic model affirms and supports:
Exposure to aerospace careers can help initiate an
individual's desire to pursue a career in the Aerospace industry.
Aerospace careers require average to above average
specialized skills and preparation, which necessitates economic,
academic, social, and career support resources.
Mentoring programs have a net positive impact on personal
attitudes, motivation, behaviors, relationships, health, and career
outcomes.
Solutions
In our opinion, solution sets can be traced to three key areas. By
targeting programs to address each of these areas, our nation can
better meet the need to fill jobs with competitive professionals who
reflect the diversity across the nation.
Build Awareness--At OBAP, we activate a network of over 2500
aerospace professionals to participate in school visits on a national
level. We inform students about aerospace career tracks, and more
importantly illustrate successful pathways.
Awareness building is still a critical first step in addressing the
supply problem within workforce development. If target groups are not
aware of possible career paths at an age early enough to properly
prepare, they will miss key opportunities. The 2021 FAA Workforce
Development grant program is a good example of the type of support
schools and non-profit organizations need to carry forward this work.
Without adequate funding, we stand at risk of large populations within
the nation never considering a career in aerospace. Other initiatives
such as the Women in Aviation Advisory Board, et. al. are crucial
stepping stones to understanding the challenges associated with
building awareness of diversity challenges.
Support Competitive Skill Building--We've built several programs
intended to address each learning phase from Elementary through College
and beyond, to provide exposure to aerospace concepts, opportunities to
build skills, and connect with mentors to help guide the way.
Once people become aware of career pathways within the industry,
attention must shift to ensuring they are equipped with skills that
make them competitive employees and leaders. Again, Congress making
available funding for students to get the best training available is of
paramount importance. As the coast of tuition and training within our
post secondary education system continues to soar, many students will
be ``priced out'' of these career opportunities. This broadly affects
underrepresented people, as their socio-economic situations tend to
result in lower incomes and access to funds.
Provide Advocacy and Access--We work hard to form relationships
with industry partners to ensure our voice is heard on behalf of our
members. Through our partnerships we have opportunities to steer the
conversation, and reinforce the positive effects of diversity.
Congress can assist through encouraging and supporting employers
and contractors who make diversity a key component to their recruitment
and hiring practices. No one, including OBAP, is an advocate of
lowering standards. On the contrary we believe by casting a wider net
with the intention of seeking out candidates with a broad range of
experiences and backgrounds is the best approach to ensuring our
industry thrives. Programs and resources that help employers cast this
``wide net'' can help ensure we see more diversity in the candidates
interviewed for positions.
sources
Geis, J. P., II, Garretson, P. A. (2015). An Aerospace Nation (4th ed.,
Vol. 9, Winter 2015, pp. 2-17, Rep.). Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University
Press. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/
pdf/26271275.pdf

Illumoka, A., Milanovic, I. Grant, N. (2017). An Effective Industry-
Based Mentoring Approach for the Recruitment of Women and Minorities.
Journal of STEM Education, 18(3), 13-19. Retrieved September 14, 2020,
from https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/view/2102

Ison, D. C., Herron, R., Weiland, L. (2016). Two Decades of Progress
for Minorities in Aviation. Journal of Aviation Technology and
Engineering, 6(1). doi:10.7771/2159-6670.1141

Ton, Z. (2020, August 17). Equality in the U.S. Starts with Better
Jobs. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2020/08/
equality-in-the-u-s-starts-with-better-jobs

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2020). Frequently Asked
Questions. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.opm.gov/faqs/
QA.aspx?fid=72bcd219-0b9f-4de8-b366-4817028fbc6e

United States Department of Labor. (2020, March 31). May 2019 National
Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. Retrieved September 14,
2020, from https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm

Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Webley. We appreciate your
testimony.
I will turn to Mr. Kyle Kaiser, president of VIPER
Transitions. Mr. Kaiser, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Kaiser. Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and the
subcommittee, thank you very much for the opportunity to give
testimony here today.
Unlike a lot of the colleagues that I am now being able to
associate with, I do not herald from aviation. I am an
electrician by trade. I am a veteran of both Iraq and
Afghanistan: airborne, Infantry, sniper.
Transitioning out of the military was not easy. Finding
your next career path is not easy. Aviation was not ever on my
radar. I was an infantryman; what I knew about planes is that I
could jump out of them and get where I needed to go quickly.
So what brought me here to where we are at now? I've
already given a little bit of background about who I am and
what I have done; an important thing to remember is we all have
something that grounds us, something that keeps us connected.
The reason we started the organization VIPER Transitions is
to end veteran suicide. We believe we can do this by
eliminating some of the lead causes: unemployment,
underemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, and honestly
repairing our fractured support system.
The support system I had during the military and after, it
can be pointed to one person, my amazing wife Kathleen. Without
her help and her backing, I do not know where I would be. It is
quite possible I could be one of the statistics of the 22 a day
that we lose to suicide.
When you start looking at statistics, I really was not sure
where to go with my testimony on whether or not I should bring
a bunch of statistics and data. So I chose to go a little bit
different route. I prefer to be more somewhat informal and
direct.
Veterans have a hard time getting employment when you get
out of the military. When you start talking inclusion and
demographics, the military covers everybody in our country. I
served with people from all ethnicities, religious beliefs,
backgrounds from all across the Nation and other countries.
They used the military to become citizens of the United States.
And we need to do more when it comes to transitioning
servicemembers into good-paying jobs.
Ranking Member Graves mentioned industry, academia, and
labor. I am proud to say that VIPER has the support in aviation
from all three of those groups. Namely, AAR, AMFA, and AIM have
all come to back VIPER and our program.
In August we are going to be launching our first cohort to
address aviation maintenance. We designed a program, it's 12
weeks long. We will put veterans and military spouses into the
program, and they will get their training if they need to step
into current aviation.
Whether they choose to fulfill the requirements of the FAA
through part 147 schooling afterwards, or go straight to work
for an employer, they are on a route and a pathway set up to
succeed.
And I cannot speak enough on what that does for the mental
health of our veterans. I understand this is not a mental
health subcommittee, but it does all tie together.
When you are in the military, everybody knows who you are
by what is on your chest and on your sleeve. They know if you
have been deployed. They know if you have seen combat. They
know what schools you have gone to.
When you get out, you are just a name and a number. ``Thank
you for your service'' does not pay the bills, and far too
often veterans are told, ``Thank you for your service. The
application line is there. We will get to you if we get to
you.''
And when you do get the interview, you get one of two
normal comments. Either you are overqualified, which, as an
infantryman, I very rarely got, or you are underqualified:
``Sorry. We need somebody with more experience.''
I would recommend that we encourage industry partners to
expand apprenticeship opportunities. Apprenticeship
opportunities recognized by the Department of Labor provide a
great resource for veterans and everybody who has served our
country.
You can use your GI bill to offset the cost of starting out
at a lower wage, and that provides a huge boost to a family's
income, to be able to afford to start a new career over from
the beginning.
I never looked at aviation because those opportunities did
not exist. One of the most common phrases I get from veterans
that are already out when they hear about the work we are doing
is, ``Wow, I wish they had that when I got out.''
And that is the truth of the matter, is that the transition
and the system we have set up to bring people into careers
leaving the military needs work.
The aviation industry has the opportunity to not only
create programs, to boost the numbers of veterans choosing to
get into aerospace, but to back groups that do that.
You mentioned Embry-Riddle; they have a fantastic
SkillBridge program. VIPER Transitions is also a SkillBridge
program that targets all veterans from every branch, every
occupation, including their spouses.
``Thank you for your service'' is not enough. We need to do
more.
Thank you for your time.
[Mr. Kaiser's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Kyle J. Kaiser, President, VIPER Transitions
VIPER Transitions creates pathways for transitioning service
members and military spouses into the workforce. The military presents
a diversified pool of Americans looking for their next career. Those
who serve our country come from every demographic of American society
and answered our country's call to serve. It is up to us to ensure they
have access to quality careers after their service. By including
veterans in efforts to support a more robust workforce, we include
people of every religion, ethnicity, economic, and social background.
VIPER believes veterans represent a group of potential workers often
left out of discussions of inclusion and advancement. It is our duty to
ensure they are represented in these discussions. Below is why this
discussion is necessary:
A Comprehensive Solution to Ending Veteran Suicide
The Epidemic
Veteran Suicide is a complicated issue. Every Veteran is unique and
faces distinct challenges making the solution to ending Veteran suicide
more complicated. At Veteran Internships Providing Employment Readiness
(VIPER) we believe we can establish a comprehensive program with the
capability of surmounting this challenge. Looking at some of the causes
we as veterans have face ourselves, Post-Traumatic Stress/military
trauma, career transition, unemployment, and/or underemployment we
begin to find a common thread: a veteran's sense of self-worth. VIPER
believes poor self-worth/identity is the main factor influencing
veteran suicide. We focus on a comprehensive method of connecting
existing programs, organizations, and resources needed to address this
factor. We believe that our unique approach is suited to adequately
address the needs of our veterans and our nation.
Veteran Identity
Believing the leading factor to Veteran suicide is tied to the
Veteran's perceived self-worth or self-identity is not a new concept.
People usually identify themselves according to the role they play in
society. When Veterans are referred to as heroes, patriots, defenders
of freedom, the backbone of the country, and other such praises it is
hard to be anything else. When Veterans separate from the military
there is a large space to fill and the struggle becomes very real.
During this struggle it is more likely someone will turn to alcohol,
drugs, compulsive shopping, or possibly gambling, just to feel alive
again. It is during this struggle that other mental health issues can
take over.
Military service may expose an individual to different traumatic
experiences. These experiences, often referred to as Post-Traumatic
Stress or PTS, happens to ``people who have experienced or witnessed a
traumatic event'' \1\. PTS can play a significant role in Veteran self-
identity. A successful military force must be able to perform in the
worst conditions imaginable. To be effective in combat, training must
take place to try and ``harden'' the mind and numb emotion. This
training is necessary to accomplish the military's mission. Veterans
are continuously exposed to an environment that trains them to keep
going no matter what. When Veterans suffer from PTS it is common for
them to view it as a weakness and they begin to question who they are.
This questioning can lead to a path of self-destruction even while
still being able to ``perform'' their job duties. While this already
complicated mental war rages in the minds of every Veteran, it becomes
more compounded during the transition process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (n.d.) American
Psychiatric Association. Retrieved August 20, 2020 from https://
www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ptsd/what-is-ptsd
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many military occupations do not translate directly to civilian
careers. While there are many programs available to Veterans actively
serving in the military that can help them achieve degrees and
certifications, the mission always comes first. With most units being
on active deployment cycles it is not as practical, or as easy, for
those serving to utilize such programs. As Veterans look to the next
phase of their lives after leaving the service, they are regularly told
they are not ``qualified'' for the career they desire. During the hunt
to find a gainful, fulfilling career, Veterans are missing the keys
they need to achieve success. They are often told to go to this
website, use this military skills translator, write a resume (but don't
use military terms civilians won't understand), network, go to job
fairs, and the list goes on. This is deception. As Veterans we did all
these things expecting that the advice and counseling, we received
would lead to mission success. As active duty members we relied on the
accuracy and truth of information in situations as it could be the
difference between life and death. And we had learned to trust in that
information. The difference being that while transitioning out we do
all these things and many of us will exit the service without a job in
place. ``One in four veterans say they had a civilian job lined up
after they left the military'' \2\. Meaning with an average of 200,000
Veterans transitioning out of the military each year, approximately
150,000 exit unemployed. The fear of being ``unqualified,'' and
incapable of achieving victory, is now manifested in unemployment,
underemployment, and possibly homelessness.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Kim Parker, Ruth Igielnik, Amanda Barroso, Anthony Cilluffo.
(2019, September 9). The American Veteran Experience and the Post-9/11
Generation. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/
09/09/the-transition-to-post-military-employment/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Connection Gap
There are many organizations addressing the issues facing America's
Veterans. From the Department of Veterans Affairs to local volunteers,
there are groups established to address different Veteran needs. Each
organization hones its focus on the issues they have chosen to affect.
One may focus on mental health and provide free mental health
screenings, another on disability benefits and assisting Veterans in
filing claims, another on housing assistance and finding a place for
Veterans to live. All admirably doing what they can to help Veterans,
and yet we still lose 16 to 22 Veterans a day to suicide.
With so many organizations offering to help Veterans, it can be
hard to determine which organization to talk to. Veterans are aware of
most of the larger organizations and with technology today, a quick
online search makes finding the information easily attainable. The
issue is not the organizations, the services they provide, or the
marketing tools they use. The issue again lies in the perception of
self.
Esprit De Corps and regimented training to believe you can
accomplish anything are good things to have experienced and there are
many important lessons to take with you throughout life. Learning to
recognize where healthy pride and ambition crossover to become a
destructive ego and an unteachable attitude is where Veterans struggle.
Making the right connection before a Veteran is in crisis makes all the
difference.
The Bridge
We know that while Veterans are struggling to find their identity
in the civilian world, many employers are struggling to find quality
employees. According to our research as many as 7 out of 10 employers
reported talent shortages in 2019 \3\. An aging workforce and the need
for technical skills and training make finding the right applicant for
employment difficult. Historically, Veterans have been told to go to
college and get a good job. There are issues with this narrative.
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\3\ Cox, J. (2020, February 19). It's never been this hard for
companies to find qualified workers. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/
02/19/its-never-been-this-hard-for-companies-to-find-qualified-
workers.html
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College graduates with a bachelor's degree entering the workforce
will earn around $51,000 a year \4\. Not a horrible starting pay for
someone in their early twenties with no debt. When you research
military pay you will see modest pay rates. An E-4 (Enlisted level 4)
earns around $32,000 annually. Looking at the numbers, college may be a
good option. The issue for Veterans is that they have grown accustomed
to a standard of living much higher than that. It is poor practice to
only consider income and not all the other factors affecting quality of
life. Veterans enjoy free medical care for themselves and their
families. They have access to free physical fitness centers,
recreational centers, cost of living allowances, housing allowances and
more. An E-4 with 4 years of service, a family of 4, stationed in
Alaska, earns $58,000 a year \5\.
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\4\ Miller, S. (2019, August 22). Starting pay has not changed much
despite tight job market for college graduates. SHRM. https://
www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/compensation/pages/average-
starting-salary-for-recent-college-grads.aspx
\5\ Regular Military Compensation Calculator. (n.d.) Department of
Defense. Retrieved August 20, 2020 from https://
militarypay.defense.gov/Calculators/RMC-Calculator/
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Many Veterans go to college because they have families to provide
for. Leaving a $58,000 a year job to pursue a new career by going
through college can lead to additional stress. The university structure
is sometimes difficult for a Veteran to adapt to. Making less money,
acquiring more debt, on top of the normal stressors added by attending
college, become too much for most to handle. Veterans drop out of
college over 80% of the time \6\. Veterans from 3 to 12 months post-
transition from the service, are almost 3 times more likely to commit
suicide than those on active duty \7\. Failure to succeed in school
leads to more self-doubt.
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\6\ Wood, D. (2012, October 25) Veteran's College Drop-Out Rate
Soars. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/veterans-college-drop-
out_n_2016926?guccounter=1
\7\ Rapaport, L. (2016, October 27). Veterans may face higher risk
of suicide during first year home. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/
article/us-health-veterans-suicide/veterans-may-face-higher-risk-of-
suicide-during-first-year-home-idUSKCN12R2MT
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In 2015, 54% of Veterans attending college were enrolled in
associate degree or certificate programs \8\. The average salary for
someone with an associate degree is $41,496 \9\. This scenario leaves
the Veteran with used GI Bill benefits, more debt, and no clear-cut
path to a career.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Factsheets, Veterans in higher education. (2019, November 9).
PNPI Retrieved August 18, 2020 from https://pnpi.org/veterans-in-
higher-education/
\9\ Josephson, A. (2018, May 15) The Average Salary by Educational
Level. Smartasset. https://smartasset.com/retirement/the-average-
salary-by-education-level
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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the construction
and extraction job market alone will grow 10% from 2018 to 2028 \10\.
While the projected growth is good for those already skilled in a
trade, there is a shortage of workers entering these types of fields.
The current narrative that attending college is the best way for you to
succeed needs to change. College needs to be looked at to advance your
career, not get it started.
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\10\ Construction and Extraction Occupations. (n.d.) U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-
and-extraction/home.htm
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Skills Not Degrees
``There are qualities . . . that have a tendency to be
completely overlooked when people are sifting through resumes
or LinkedIn profiles. And yet, increasingly, we find that these
are the kinds of people that make the biggest difference within
our organization.
``Increasingly I hear this mantra: Skills, not degrees.''
--LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner

VIPER answers the problems facing America's Veterans, employers,
and the future economy. Creating a system focused on answering the
needs of Veterans with the needs of industry we accomplish and
successfully address core issues facing all involved. Focusing on
giving Veterans tangible skills that lead directly to quality
employment assists Veterans by: Identifying future career options,
securing a career that allows Veterans to better manage stress levels
associated with transition, bridging the information gap between
Veterans and available resources by utilizing original programs,
creating a community of support that creates a positive environment
that Veterans thrive in.
VIPER peer mentors offer advice based on their own real-world
experiences and how they have succeeded since the military. Each
Veteran entering the program is able to explore the careers they
express interest in. Veteran and mentor conversations are more in depth
than just a typical job description. Our mentors are volunteers
straight from the industry they work in. Working men and women who want
to support Veterans as they transition to the next phase of their life.
This gives the Veteran invaluable insight from the ``boots on the
ground.'' This is actionable intel that the Veteran can be reassured is
accurate and will lead to success. Promises are not made, opportunities
are presented. The Veteran is informed as to the importance of their
commitment to succeed and are given clear direction to accomplish their
next mission . . . In order to execute a mission successfully there
must be a clear objective. Having a job is not an adequate objective
for VIPER applicants. The applicant must identify the career they
desire and give solid reasons as to their desire for this career. In
order to ensure the Veteran's objective is clear, they must be able to
openly discuss their concerns. A classroom full of peers can feel more
like a trial than a forum for open, honest discussion.
Other Bridges
Fish to End 22 is a VIPER program with two main focuses: 1) To
bring awareness to the public about Veteran suicide while fishing in
high profile tournaments. 2) Taking Veterans on a fishing charters to
discuss career options.
While fishing in tournaments the Fish to End 22 team hosts
informational booths at the main locations of the event. This brings
Veteran suicide to the attention of the public and Fish to End 22's
second mission.
Veterans that participate in Fish to End 22 experience a day of
high-quality fishing while engaging with mentors and organizations that
work with VIPER. These ``day trips'' are fun, energetic and create a
great environment for Veterans to ask questions about their futures and
learn about the resources available to them.
Operation Combat Pike takes the Veterans on one to three day trips
fishing for invasive Pike. These trips take them to a place where
mentors and Veterans have the time, space, and privacy to have candid
conversations regarding their future. While on this excursion Veterans
are asked to use some of the skills they learned in the military. Once
on site we ask them to assist in coordinating outings, organizing
themselves into groups based on their interests, and maintaining the
facilities used. This gives Veterans an opportunity to see themselves
performing outside of their uniform reinforcing a positive self-
identity.
While participating in Operation Combat Pike, the Veteran can fish
while talking to mentors about opportunities. VIPER's mentors explain
the details involved in succeeding in their career. They also reinforce
using available resources when needed. We then tie the experiences from
Operation Combat Pike to the attitude needed to succeed.
Veteran organizations working with VIPER attend these trips as
mentors, advisors and champions for Veterans giving these organizations
an opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with the Veterans
regarding the resources they have to offer, resources that may be
lifesaving.
During Fish to End 22 and Operation Combat Pike outings, we ensure
the Veteran is connected to available resources while highlighting the
attributes the Veteran already has. Bringing to light the quality
traits they already have and showing them how they can adapt those
traits in order to pursue a successful life as a civilian. We reinforce
that the ``will to win'' or ``never quit'' attitude is the greatest
asset every Veteran has at their disposal. However, proper attitude and
desire will not equal success.
Success comes when the Veteran's attitude and desire meets
opportunity.
Past Present Future
The American Dream is founded off the principal belief in the
attainability of success. Veterans have fought for that dream since the
country began. VIPER honors America's military heritage by utilizing
historical artifacts to train the workforce of tomorrow. Operation
Combat Pike uses vintage aircraft to fly Veterans to their
destinations. These aircraft represent more than unique
transportation--these aircraft honor past Veterans. These working
tributes place an importance on the current generation ensuring the
success of the future generations of Veterans, just as the past
Veterans ensured today. The connection of Veterans spanning generations
is important in maintaining esprit de corps after military service.
Connecting the current generation to their heritage reinforces the
message that no one is alone.
Beyond the nostalgia of connecting multiple generations of
Veterans, the utilized aircraft's service and maintenance is a unique
training platform allowing Veterans going through one of the programs
in the basics of aviation. The restoration and maintaining of these
artifacts present an opportunity to train multiple skills. From grease
and ball bearings, rivets in sheet metal, to electronic control
systems, VIPER students are exposed to a unique learning environment.
Artifacts that are not actively utilized by VIPER programs are sold or
donated to museums to further ensure the Veterans heritage is honored.
Transition Redefined
After engaging Veterans and assisting them in identifying their
career path, VIPER redefines transition. Historically, internships have
been open to Veterans in the hope that participating employers MAY hire
them. This IS NOT good enough. All the companies who work with VIPER
are required to sign an agreement with the VIPER program applicant that
guarantees details of employment, including placement in the company.
Details like number of hours to be worked in a regular work week, wages
earned at their position, healthcare coverage, retirement plans, and
required training needed to hold the position. Once the agreement is
signed, the VIPER applicant attends training to gain the necessary
credentials for the position, in accordance with the contract, which
they are to attain prior to placement. This method of direct entry into
a career, based on the needs of the Veteran/Military Spouse and the
employer, is unique. This model allows the VIPER applicant and their
future employer to both know what is expected of each other. The
security found in this process promotes healthy self-identity and
allows veterans and their families to plan for their futures.
Military Service Is a Family Affair
VIPER understands and appreciates the sacrifices made by our
military families. To show our respect and gratitude for those
sacrifices, all VIPER programs are open to military spouses. Our
ability to connect them with supportive companies allows us to
positively Affect the issue of military spouse unemployment. Military
spouses have an unemployment rate ``nearly twice the rate for the
overall US population between 18 and 65'' \11\. Opening opportunities
to military spouses supports a sense of security in the home of the
military family. This added security helps alleviate the stress put on
Veterans concerned about the wellbeing of their family. This makes for
a more focused, more confident Service Member.
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\11\ Military Spouses in the Labor Market. (2018, May). The Council
of Economic Advisers. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2018/05/Military-Spouses-in-the-Labor-Market.pdf
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Approximately 56% of Active Duty service members, and 48% of
Reserve and National Guard members are married \12\. Making sure the
military family is taken care of is pivotal to mission success. The
military has many programs in place to assist the military family, but
high unemployment rates remain a problem. Bringing VIPER to military
spouses will have a direct impact on household security. The spouses of
service members will enter quality careers and earn training and
certificates that allow them to be more easily employed. Large
companies can transfer the employee, if the need arises, as the family
moves to new duty station locations. For those entering apprenticeship
programs, the ability to transfer their training and learned skills is
made simple. When the family receives orders to move to a new duty
station, the apprentice can transfer their program participation to the
training center nearest their new location. No career change, no
retaking classes because the local university does not accept all the
earned credit, no wondering ``what do I do now?'' Just smooth,
successful, career growth.
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\12\ See 8.
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Solution to the Epidemic
VIPER redefines transition and the successful integration of
Veterans into society by focusing on ways to create an environment that
allows Veterans to thrive. Acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses
apparent in our system allows us to address issues. 22 Veteran lives
lost a day to suicide is too high a price to pay to preserve a failing
system. Instead of demanding Veterans change who they are to fit the
system, we need to change the system to better address the challenges
they face. There is no ultimate solution for ending Veteran suicide.
The most we can do is proactively address the factors leading to the
crisis.
A clear path to guaranteed placement in a career with benefits,
connecting veterans with available resources, supporting the military
family, and a strong community network are key ways to address the
factors that have created the Veteran suicide epidemic. It is time to
come together to support a comprehensive program that addresses the
issue at its source. VIPER focuses on the factors behind the problem
and presents a solution. Together we can stop veteran suicide one
employment opportunity at a time.
Not every Veteran who goes through our program is in crisis, but
every person we bring in potentially prevents one.

Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Mr. Kaiser.
Now we are going to go to questions, 5 minutes each, from
Members. I am going to do something unusual for the chair. I am
going to recognize Representative Williams of Georgia for 5
minutes.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This is absolutely unusual. As the freshman member of this
committee, I just knew that I was going to be 2 hours into this
hearing. So I appreciate the opportunity.
So thank you, Ranking Member Graves as well as Chair
Larsen, for holding this important hearing and thank you to all
of the witnesses for testifying before the subcommittee today.
And I especially want to take a moment to welcome Captain
Zapata-Cardone, who is a constituent of my district down in
Atlanta.
My district is home to the Nation's busiest airport, but
right now the aviation industry does not look like my district.
For instance, over half of my constituents are Black, but Black
individuals comprise only 3.4 percent of all aircraft pilots
and flight engineers.
Yes, we have a lot of work to do to make sure that our
aviation workforce represents the diversity of the
congressional district and the Nation that it serves.
As a Congresswoman from an incredibly diverse district, I
know that diversity is what makes America strong. Diversifying
our aviation workforce is the right thing to do, but it also
presents an economic opportunity. As the aviation industry
rebounds from the pandemic and works toward long-term recovery,
the industry is going to need talent to fill its job openings.
Diversifying its hiring pool will give the industry an
opportunity to meet its workforce needs. Captain Zapata-
Cardone, it is important that members of traditionally
marginalized communities have access to the aviation
profession.
Given that our country's pilots are 92 percent White and 91
percent male, and we have a lot of work to do to make sure the
aviation workforce is reflective of the diversity of our
Nation, in your testimony you mention that there are currently
economic disincentives for pilots considering employment at
regional airlines.
Can you please elaborate on what those are?
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Thank you for the question.
Yes, going into the regional industry is a way to build
your experience, and traditionally it has been the lowest
paying job.
Basically when you were going in as a first officer at a
regional airline--and I am just going to use my example--when I
was finally hired at a regional airline back in 2010, my first
full year I made approximately $21,000 as an airline pilot.
That is a huge economic disincentive. While the pay has
increased due to market demand, it is still not enough. Pilots
that are entering the regional industry, as Dr. Rebecca Lutte
noted, there is a huge barrier there, especially for women if
women want to start families, for family leave.
Quality of life issues are still an issue for the regional
industry, and that is something that needs to improve in order
to bring more people into the piloting profession.
As I said, my first year, not making that much money, it
was very difficult to not only pay rent and just live, but you
also have to think about the financial barriers of the student
loans that were taken out in order to continue in flight
training, and that was a huge barrier.
So those are things that need to be addressed and improved
in order to have that robust pipeline.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you.
And, Dr. Lutte, it is apparent that there is a lack of
women serving in leadership roles in the aviation industry. In
your testimony, you mentioned that mentorship and sponsorship
programs could support the advancement of women in aviation.
Can you give us examples of what such a program would look
like in the aviation sector?
Ms. Lutte. Thank you very much for that question.
We do know that women in leadership positions--really
members of unrepresented groups, for that matter, in leadership
positions--we need greater numbers and more representation
there.
So mentorship and sponsorship programs--particularly formal
mentorship and sponsorship programs--within aviation
organizations will allow us to identify top talent, make sure
that that top talent is informed of the opportunities that are
available to them, make sure that we have professional
development for members of underrepresented groups, and just
ensure that they are getting that sponsorship from those in
leadership positions to make sure that they are getting the
opportunity to make that leap and make that gap.
Certainly, my colleague from JetBlue can probably speak
more to what they have in place at their particular airline,
but I think it is important and valuable that we do have that
in, again, a formal program to identify that top talent, make
sure that they are getting the opportunities, and getting that
attempt to increase the numbers of underrepresented groups in
those key decisionmaking roles.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you.
And, Ms. Gibbs, I am unfortunately going to run out of
time. So I am going to ask that you submit your answer for the
record.
In your testimony, you identified an opportunity to
increase diversity within the officer and director ranks where
the racial composition has remained stagnant, and you mentioned
that JetBlue has developed some new pathways to help
crewmembers to grow in leadership ways.
So if you could submit more details about that to those
pathways for the record, I would appreciate it.
Ms. Gibbs. Absolutely.
Ms. Williams of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you, Representative Williams.
The Chair now recognizes Representative Graves of Louisiana
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank all of the witnesses for the testimony.
Mr. Kaiser, thank you for your service, and I wanted to ask
you a question about some of the training programs that you are
implementing now.
I understand from your testimony that you are starting an
aviation maintenance program. Can you talk a little bit about
sort of the expectations from the various training programs for
Active Duty servicemembers and veterans and their spouses, kind
of the results of the programs, and what we can expect?
Mr. Kaiser. Yes, sir. So our program, the aviation
maintenance program that we are getting ready to launch here in
August, is a little different from most transition programs. In
order for somebody to come through our program, they have to be
guaranteed placement either in a part 147 school or with an
employer.
We do not like guesswork when it comes to transition and
what you are going to do with your next career. We think there
should be a pathway set up to get that taken care of.
As far as the program is concerned, it is a 12-week
program. It is going to cover general aviation. You won't be an
A&P. I'll go ahead and clear that up. I liken it to a pre-
apprenticeship.
We are going to give you the skills you need to start your
journey.
Does that answer your question, sir?
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. It does. It does. Thanks.
Do you believe that this is something that can be
replicated or for some reason you think it is unique to your
area of the way that you are administering the program?
Mr. Kaiser. I believe our program is unique. However, it is
definitely something that can and should be replicated, in my
opinion, across the board.
I look at industry screening for manpower and needs, and it
is no secret that aviation is not much different than the other
industries I work with as far as retirement. People are
leaving. They are not going to be around anymore. What are we
going to do to fill that void?
And there are 200,000 servicemembers getting out of the
military annually.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Can you speak to how you think
that your efforts or these efforts will contribute to diversity
in the workforce?
Mr. Kaiser. Yes. So in the military I served with every
ethnicity I could think of and religious belief without any
issue. When you are getting into the military, all of those
people or all of those demographics are still there.
The Representative, Congresswoman from Georgia, that is
near and dear to my heart, Fort Benning, infantry school,
airborne school, sniper school, all took place in Georgia.
What are the statistics of African Americans serving in the
military in Georgia? Those are things that we can look at and
as programs are developed, we should keep in mind when you are
looking at veterans in the different areas.
Now, in Alaska, we work with a lot of groups for Alaska
Native veterans, working to get the Alaska Native veterans who
have served, in their careers here and abroad. So there is no
shortage of the opportunity when looking at the military to
target and support veterans' groups.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you.
Dr. Lutte, thank you for your testimony. You mentioned that
there has been a challenge, I think, in absorbing or, excuse
me, I guess the transition of female aviation students into the
private pilots, and I just wanted to make sure I followed sort
of what you were trying to convey to us.
Are these being absorbed by the commercial aviation space
or what is the reason for that lack of conversion?
Ms. Lutte. So it is an important, I think, data point to
look at because our student pilot representation for women is a
little over 13 percent. When you look at private pilots, it is
about 6 percent.
And the number of women who are private pilots has only
increased by less than one-half of 1 percent over 15 years. So
why is that important? It is important because it is a pipeline
indication of coming into the profession.
And it is important in terms of how do we do a better job
at converting that 13 percent. First of all, let's get that
higher, but that 13 percent of student pilots into private
pilots.
And there are several barriers, I think, that we can look
at in that area, including cost, some factors for the training
environment, that sense of isolation, the need for community of
support, and some other areas.
But that was the point of including that particular data
point.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you. I appreciate the
clarification.
The last question, Ms. Gibbs. Could you just shed a little
bit of light on JetBlue's new method of interviewing, Blue
Select?
Ms. Gibbs. Sure. Blue Select is an initiative that we put
forth to ensure that we have an opportunity to reduce bias in
the interview process, and oftentimes bias is not intentional,
but it is prevalent.
And so our Blue Select program is a competency-based
interview/selection process that allows us to really home in on
the skills that we are looking at and not allow for a lot of
opportunity for you to insert your particular bias because
everybody is seeking the same information from the candidates.
And that is our Blue Select program.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. All right. Thank you. I appreciate
your sharing that.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you.
I now recognize myself for 5 minutes.
I will first go with Dr. Lutte. Can you be more specific
about the use of data and what you think we can do to help
develop the data?
You said the number one thing is: We have to develop this
data. So what data, and how do we use it?
Ms. Lutte. Thank you for that question.
One of the key areas, again, is coming back to that what
gets measured gets done. So we need a better baseline of
information of where we are at in terms of women and
underrepresented groups.
It is a challenge to come up with the data points in this
area. So you have to go to a variety of sources.
We need better information, for example, on race and
ethnicity included in the FAA airman certification data. We can
get better indications from industry of what the representation
is.
There is a great example by Boeing, for example, who
recently published their diversity data online, and that is
helpful to get a better sense of the industry.
But in terms of Government, again, FAA data, some good data
sources from the DOT can be potentially expanded, but the other
one I am going to call for--shocking, I know, as a university
person--is funded research in this area, and not just data on
what the numbers are, but data and information about how well
we are doing with our outreach and recruitment efforts, and
looking not just at outputs but outcomes so that we know that
the effort we are taking, the money that we are spending is
going to the right place.
So better FAA data, better funding for evaluation efforts
on outreach, recruitment, retention.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you.
Ms. Gibbs, JetBlue--the Gateway programs--is one, but just
the overall approach that you outlined in your testimony, how
did that emerge at JetBlue?
Why did you decide at JetBlue that you needed to up your
game on this kind of outreach?
Ms. Gibbs. We have long since noticed that there was a need
to diversify our pilot work group, and we were very aware of
the cost obstacles for becoming a pilot, and so we started the
Gateway program in 2008 to help pilots find a pathway into
JetBlue.
And we worked with these pilots consistently to mentor them
and ensure that they had all the support that they needed. We
have heard quite often that there is an isolation factor, and
so we provided support and mentorship for pilots through this
program.
We have expanded the Gateway program for internal
crewmembers, and we are really happy to announce that we have
22 crewmembers who have recently gone through all of the rigor
to enter into the pilot program.
Safety is our number one value, and we are putting forth
those 22 people in two separate classes and helping them,
really mentoring them to become pilots.
But these are JetBlue crewmembers, and so how better to
show your commitment to our industry by taking people who are
already here and already committed to the company and offering
them an opportunity to become pilots?
And so we have flight attendants and people from so many
different backgrounds who will enter into this program and
become pilots.
And then the second program that we have created most
recently is to encourage crewmembers to become technicians, and
so we are just starting to take applications and
recommendations there, and we will be launching that program
and having those crewmembers get on their way and their pathway
for that program as well.
So those are the two main Gateway programs that we are
doing for both pilots and technicians, and then we have a
program to bring crewmembers from the operation into our
support centers. Our support centers are our corporate offices,
and how do we help them become part of the pipeline to
eventually and hopefully become leaders within the
organization.
It all frames around bringing in diversity through all of
those methods.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you.
Mr. Webley, we heard something about mentoring from the
previous two witnesses. I don't know if there is a formal role
that Congress plays to expand mentoring, but do you have ideas
about mentoring and expansion of mentoring programs?
Mr. Webley. Yes. I think what Congress might be able to do
is leverage some of the existing platforms and, I guess,
structures. For example, United States Air Force has a formal
mentoring program that they used internally. The FAA probably
has their own mentoring program internally that they use for
whether it be moving people into executive roles and things of
that nature.
And I think maybe a model that could be followed is the
same way the FAA has provided sort of best practices in a
structure for what is called the Aviation Career Education
program, ACE, which is like summer aviation camps for students.
The FAA can provide sort of a baseline package that any
organization could pick up and get started with their own
mentoring program, whether it be a nonprofit, whether it be a
company, like I said, sort of establishing maybe a center of
excellence to provide the baseline information.
Mr. Larsen. Thank you. Thank you.
I now recognize Representative Balderson from Ohio for 5
minutes.
Mr. Balderson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My question is for Mr. Kaiser, and, Mr. Kaiser, thank you
for being here today, and I would also like to thank you for
the work VIPER does every day to help veterans transition into
meaningful careers, and this is something that is talked about
everywhere I go in the congressional district and even in my
past years in the State legislature.
But I am very concerned about a potential shortage of
qualified maintenance technicians in aviation. I hear this a
lot. With your organization's expertise and experience in
workforce placement, how many veterans do you believe would be
qualified to work in these roles in civilian aviation?
That is my first question, and then does VIPER Transitions
believe transitioning veterans to these roles could make up a
sizable portion of this shortage?
Mr. Kaiser. To the first question, Mr. Congressman, I could
not tell you how many would actually qualify.
That's part of the reason VIPER Transitions got set up is
to get people qualifications to have the job that they are
going to be hired for.
As far as impact on people coming into the industry, I
absolutely believe it will have a massive impact. There are
200,000 veterans that get out of the military every year, and
150,000 of them do not have a career lined up or even a job,
for that matter.
So if you present this type of opportunity to a veteran or
a military spouse, and it is imperative that we do not forget
the spouses when we are talking about the military transitions.
Serving is not just on the servicemember. It drags your family
along for the ride as well.
So I believe given the sheer number of people exiting the
military every year, a more robust system for recruitment and
training to bring into these careers is absolutely going to
have a substantial impact.
Like I said, our programs are designed for any military
occupational specialty, any MOS. We care about what you did in
the military, but not as far as your next career is concerned.
We want to set you up for success on a pathway that you want to
get into, and so that is what our programs are designed to do.
Mr. Balderson. OK. Well, if my office or myself can assist
you with getting some data on that, we would love to work with
you on that.
Look. As I said, we go around the district a lot, and it is
something that is talked about every single day when we go out.
My followup question to you would be in your testimony you
note that many employers are struggling to find workers. We
have talked about this. This is a concern I hear daily.
Can you discuss how VIPER locates and identifies businesses
who desperately need skilled and reliable workers and how you
work together to ensure the available positions will be a good
fit for our veterans?
Mr. Kaiser. Yes. So as far as finding companies, it has all
been networking. I mentioned a few of our partners, AAR and
AMFA and AIM, as well as ARSA. I have worked with them and, in
fact, did a presentation at their conference.
And that is how we have really been getting introduced to
employers, and then then we meet with employers: What workers
do you need? What classification do you need? What are you
looking for?
And then we design a program to fit their needs. In this
case the aviation maintenance program is what we design. We
need maintainers. So let's create a program that could take
somebody like myself, who is an infantryman, and turn me into a
maintainer in the civilian world.
And that is what we have done, and I think when you look at
how you address that training, that is really where everything
needs to go. We cannot continue to look for where--you cannot
get blood out of a turnip. You have got to keep expanding your
pool where you are going to meet your needs, and that is what
we are trying to do with the military.
Mr. Balderson. OK. My followup is with employers.
Obviously, they have to be a part of this process. What do
employers need to do to make these positions as enticing as
possible for transitioning servicemembers and ensure that these
jobs provide meaningful work and long-term career for our
veterans?
So that would be my last followup question if you could
answer that please.
Mr. Kaiser. Yes, sir. So the biggest thing that I have seen
help veterans choose a career path is having an apprenticeship
program, a DOL-registered apprenticeship program where they can
use their GI bill to offset the cost of starting out as an
apprentice at a lower wage.
Those folks that we target, E1 through E6, not that we do
not work with everybody; our first electrician class had a
major in it. When you are targeting E1 through E6, usually they
are younger. They have got a young family, mortgage, car
payments, credit cards, all of the same bills that every other
person is going to have.
So when you have the opportunity to offset your cost of
living with the GI bill while you are on the job training, that
is huge. That would be probably the single biggest piece of
advice I would give an employer.
Mr. Balderson. OK. Well, thank you very much.
My time is up, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Kahele [presiding]. Thank you.
The Chair now recognizes Mr. Carson for 5 minutes.
Mr. Carson. Thank you, Chairman.
To Dr. [sic] Webley and Ms. Gibbs, I really appreciate your
testimony today. I am curious. What do you think would be the
most impactful way to increase the number of Black and Brown
professionals in aviation?
Is this led by industry or is there more action from the
FAA and DOT to better implement programs already in place?
What new efforts should we even reconsider? What can our
subcommittee do to advance diversity in aviation?
Mr. Webley. Just to clarify, Congressman, you said Dr.
Webley. I am not a doctor. So I just wanted to verify you are
addressing me.
Mr. Carson. That is all right. That is all right. People
call me Dr. Dre, but that is OK. Accepted, you know?
Mr. Webley. No, no worries. I just wanted to make sure it
was not for Dr. Lutte over there, the question.
But since I am talking, I will go ahead. So there are three
pillars that we focus on, and I think Government, you know,
whether it be the FAA or DOE, any of the agencies that this
stuff falls under their purview. The three pillars that we
focus on and where there is always room to partner is
awareness. Number one, a lot of underrepresented people are
underrepresented in these career fields because they do not
even know that they are an option.
So any resources that we can direct into schools to provide
additional funding for awareness for career exposure, career
program, whether it is vo-tech-type programs in the high school
level that expose students to what Mr. Kaiser was talking
about, opportunities that are out there in the trades and
whatnot. Any of that is going to be helpful.
The second pillar is skill development. Once people become
aware of these career opportunities, at OBAP we work hard to
try and make sure that they build skills that are going to make
them competitive to actually be able to land these careers.
We are not interested in lowering standards by any means.
So all of our efforts go to making sure that whether it is our
members or whether it is the students that we interact with,
that we are developing programs that raise them up to
competitive levels in terms of their skills.
So any kind of resources that can be directed to that,
whether it is making education more affordable, whether it is
leveraging the massive network of community colleges that we
have across the country that can provide quality education at
an affordable rate, any of those types of programs are very
useful.
And then the third one is access and advocacy, exactly what
is happening right here. By giving organizations such as OBAP
and VIPER Transitions and Latino Pilots Association, et cetera,
a seat at the table so that we can share our ideas and have
them be considered by folks like yourself that make decisions,
that is incredibly important.
So I pass it off to the next person.
Mr. Carson. That's good.
Ms. Gibbs. I concur with those observations. Access and
opportunity are two of the greatest ways that we can increase
Brown and Black representation in aviation.
We sponsor several programs for young students so that they
can start early. If you see a Black pilot, you realize you can
become a Black pilot. If you see a Brown technician, you
realize you can become a technician. So you have to have that
access and exposure.
A seat at the table is incredibly important because being
in the industry, we can offer suggestions for ways that
Government can come to the intersection of private-public
partnerships, and how do we then expose young people to the
industry, the industry that I love so much and I have been part
of for so long.
So there are ways that we can become a little bit more
intentional in the work that we are doing in order to increase
representation for technical positions.
And then how do we continue to push forward opportunities
so that minorities and women and diversity increases in the
boardroom as well? Everybody wants a seat at the table, and as
we are looking to have a seat, sometimes you have to bring your
own folding chair and plop it down at the end.
And so we are really trying to make sure that we offer
access and opportunity so that we can not only increase
diversity with our executives, but also make sure that we have
a diverse workforce and start to diversify pilots and
technicians as well.
Mr. Carson. That is great. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Kahele. All right. Thank you.
The Chair now recognizes the Representative from Tennessee,
Member Burchett, for 5 minutes.
Mr. Burchett. Aloha, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, brother.
Thank you all for being here.
Ms. Gibbs, I appreciate your interest in addressing the
aviation industries--wait.
First, Mr. Chairman, I wanted to submit for the record an
article, ``Key Lawmaker Quizzes Airlines on Delays, Worker
Shortages,'' without any objection, if I could submit that.
Voice. I do not object.
Mr. Burchett [laughing]. Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
[The information follows:]

Article entitled, ``Key Lawmaker Quizzes Airlines on Delays, Worker
Shortages,'' Associated Press, July 17, 2021, Submitted for the Record
by Hon. Tim Burchett
Key lawmaker quizzes airlines on delays, worker shortages
Senator Cantwell says she is troubled by reports that highlight the
role of worker shortages in a surge of delayed and canceled
flights.
Associated Press

Published: 1:10 PM EDT July 17, 2021/Updated: 1:10 PM EDT July 17, 2021

WASHINGTON--A key senator is asking six U.S. airlines to explain
the high rates of delayed and canceled flights this summer, and she's
asking whether there are labor shortages despite the airlines getting
billions in federal aid to keep workers on the job.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who chairs the Senate Commerce
Committee, sent letters Friday to the CEOs of American, Southwest,
Delta, JetBlue, Republic and Allegiant. She wrote that she is concerned
by reports that have highlighted the role of worker shortages in a
surge of delayed and canceled flights.
In identical letters to the CEOs, Cantwell said each airline did a
poor job of managing its workforce and, at worst, ``failed to meet the
intent of tax payer funding and prepare for the surge in travel that we
are now witnessing.'' Since March 2020, when the pandemic began to
crush air travel, Congress has approved $54 billion to keep airline
workers employed. As a condition of the aid, airlines have been
prohibited from furloughing workers, but they persuaded tens of
thousands of employees to take voluntary buyouts, early retirement or
long-term leave to cut costs.
Now the airlines are trying to bolster their staffs. This week,
American cited rising passenger numbers [https://apnews.com/article/
lifestyle-business-health-travel-coronavirus-pandemic-
aa7a7fe1f82591e95cf349c28970f67e] in saying it will recall 3,300 flight
attendants from long-term leave and hire 800 more before the end of the
year. Delta said it will hire between up to 5,000 workers this year to
reduce long hold times for customers who call the airline and to deal
with workers shortages at contractors such as food caterers and
airplane cleaners.
Airlines and their unions lobbied for federal aid, which has been
extended twice and is scheduled to end Sept. 30. Trade group Airlines
for America said that without the money, ``the impacts of the pandemic
would have been far more devastating to our industry and our workforce,
and our return to the skies would have been dramatically slowed.''

Credit: AP. In this Tuesday, May 25, 2021, file photo, travelers watch
a JetBlue Airways aircraft taxi away from a gate at Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport ahead of Memorial Day weekend, in
Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Government figures show that about 35,000 airline jobs were lost
[https://www.bts.gov/newsroom/may-airline-industry-employment-04-april]
last fall, when the aid briefly expired. The jobs were restored when
Congress extended the payroll relief.
Southwest, one of the hardest hit by delays, said Friday it used
the federal money to keep flying to all the airports it served before
the pandemic. It blamed recent delays on summer thunderstorms and
technology ``challenges'' last month that led to an unusually high
number of delays and flight cancelations.
The number of people flying in the U.S. bottomed out at less than
100,000 a day in April 2020. It has increased from about 700,000 a day
in early February to about 2 million a day in July, although that is
still down 20% from the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.

Mr. Burchett. Mr. Webley--no, I am sorry. Ms. Gibbs, Ms.
Gibbs.
While I appreciate your interest in addressing the aviation
industry's long-term workforce needs, what is JetBlue doing
specifically right now to address the industry's current needs
and get the workforce back to pre-pandemic levels?
Ms. Gibbs. We are hiring. I mean, that is one of the things
that we are doing. We are doing a lot of hiring across the
country to ensure that we have all of the proper people in
place to service customers and welcome them back with a smile.
Internally, we are doing several things to increase not
only--I mentioned our Gateway program, which is helping to
create the next generation of pilots and create a diverse
workforce there; our Gateway program for technicians, also
creating the next group of aircraft mechanics and creating a
diverse workforce there.
We are looking internally to make sure that we have an
opportunity to specifically promote and encourage our
crewmembers who might have come here to work on the ramp or
become a flight attendant, to show them the vast opportunities
that exist within aviation and to support them so that they can
meet those challenges and meet their goals.
And so we are really working hard to hire across the
country, like I said, including making sure that we are looking
at all sorts of resources and opportunities to bring diversity
in, including having people on the recruiting team to
specifically look for diverse talent.
So those are some things that JetBlue is doing to increase
the workforce here and welcome the flying public back because
we really want them to fly again.
Mr. Burchett. OK. Thank you, ma'am.
Mr. Webley, do you have any recommendations for how we can
bridge the skills gap and combat the perception that well-
paying professions are only available to people with 4-year
college degrees?
[Pause.]
Mr. Burchett. Mr. Webley.
Mr. Webley. I had to unmute myself there. Sorry about that.
Mr. Burchett. All right.
Mr. Webley. Yes. As I mentioned earlier, I think by
leveraging the very large network in the country of community
colleges is probably one of the best ways that we can do that,
for two reasons, really three reasons.
Number one, a significant amount of community colleges
offer programs that develop skill sets that are directly
translatable to the industry, including pilots. There are 2-
year community college programs that essentially prepare you
for a professional career as a pilot.
So the second one is the affordability of community
colleges. You have the chance to take on 2 years of training,
walk away with a skill, and then make a decision. Is that
enough or do I want to continue on to a 4-year program?
You can do that and have options with a 2-year program.
And then the third one is that community colleges
geographically are so spread out around the country. There are
so many more of them. Students can go to those programs, yet
still remain within their own support networks, whether that be
their parents, whether that be around family members that can
help them with cost of living, maintaining part-time jobs, et
cetera, et cetera.
So those are three things that I think can be done.
Mr. Burchett. Great. Thank you.
Mr. Kaiser, how can we better attract veterans to work
within the aviation sector?
And are there any notable barriers to entry for veterans
looking to join the civilian aviation workforce?
And, for the record, Mr. Chairman, my mama flew an airplane
during the Second World War. She is a friend of then-Senator
Cohen in the State legislature, now Representative Cohen, and
she was exceptional, and as the war was waning she was
encouraged to go elsewhere because they just did not need women
pilots apparently.
So if you could answer those questions very quickly, I
would appreciate it.
Mr. Kaiser. Yes, sir. I believe that the biggest barrier
has been hit on a few times: exposure. They don't know that the
opportunity is available. They don't know where to find it, and
they don't know how to get the training. They don't know who to
apply to.
I think companies need to do a better job of recruiting and
letting them know that those opportunities are present. So that
would be your biggest barrier, is getting it in front of them
and showing them the numbers.
Mr. Burchett. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back my time.
Mr. Kahele. All right, mahalo, Mr. Burchett.
The Chair would now like to recognize Member Brown for 5
minutes.
Mr. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And I certainly want to thank Chair Larsen for convening
this hearing on ``Bridging the Gap: Improving Diversity and
Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation Workforce.''
Mr. Larsen and I serve together on the House Armed Services
Committee, and we know that there in the military aviation
context, we have not only a shortage of pilots and maintenance
and navigators, but certainly a lack of diversity in those
military occupational specialties as well.
So I really do appreciate holding this hearing today.
It is critical that we continue to work together to develop
a robust and diverse aviation workforce. Unfortunately, the
aviation workforce in the United States does not reflect the
diversity of the Nation as a whole. A lot of factors contribute
to that.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 94
percent of all U.S. aircraft pilots and flight engineers are
White. We have heard this in our testimony today. These
significant discrepancies suggest that increased outreach to
underrepresented groups could expand the hiring pool and help
meet future workforce needs in the aviation industry.
Mr. Webley, a question for you. In your written testimony
you said exposure to aerospace careers can help initiate an
individual's desire to pursue a career in the aerospace
industry.
So what are the greatest obstacles for the Organization of
Black Aerospace Professionals in exposing underrepresented
communities to the aerospace industry?
And what are some of the best practices the airline
industry still needs to adopt that they haven't yet adopted in
order for us to increase diversity in the workforce?
Mr. Webley. Thank you, sir.
I would say actually the biggest barrier to the exposure
piece is the mobilization of people to actually connect with
the students. We have gone to great lengths, for example, at
OBAP to develop a system that allows educators to come to us,
request a speaker that can come to their school, match that
request with our pool of speakers, check their availability,
and do the logistics of actually finding a person to go to that
school.
That process seems like it would be simple, but there are
thousands and thousands of schools across the country that,
frankly, maybe are not aware of organizations like OBAP or
other nonprofits that are out there.
So, in short, as I said, it is really the logistics of
connecting the educator, making sure the educator, number one,
knows that there are organizations out there that are willing
to do this, and then going through the logistics of connecting
people to be able to actually fulfill those needs of educators
that want to have professionals in their schools.
So any kind of backend systems that might be able to help
out with meeting that requirement, whether it be an FAA website
where educators can go and register, make requests, and then
send those requests out to different nonprofits that are
operating in those areas, anything like that might be a way to
approach it.
Mr. Brown. Well, thank you.
I certainly look forward to continuing to work with you and
your organization to see what we might be able to do in
Congress to encourage and support that.
On the Armed Services Committee, and I reference the Armed
Services Committee because, as you all know on the panel, one
in every three pilots in commercial aviation has military
experience. It used to be 80 percent back in the 1960s, and
while I am always careful because I do not want to lose too
many military pilots to the commercial industry, I also know
that many of your pilots fly in the Air Force and Naval
Reserves or in the Air National Guard.
So, there is a real sort of synergy there between
developing more diversity in military aviation and how that can
benefit the work.
And one of the things that we are working on in the House
Armed Services Committee is a closer relationship between the
Air Force particularly, and historically Black colleges and
universities.
We have also directed the Secretary of Defense to look at
barriers and obstacles for minorities and women to entry into
aviation positions, and I hope that when that study becomes
available, it may inform what you do as well.
But let me just wrap up by saying thank you to each and
every one of you for your commitment to diversifying our
workforce. I look forward to working with you so that we are
doing on Capitol Hill everything that we need to do so that
industry can really lead the way on achieving greater diversity
in the aviation industry.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. Kahele. Mahalo, Mr. Brown. The Chair now recognizes Mr.
Payne for 5 minutes.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Webley, I am pleased to see the push to recruit pilot
candidates that are diverse from underserved communities.
However, there are more employment opportunities in the
aviation sector than being a pilot. There are executives,
engineers, air traffic controllers, coworkers.
The push for diversity must include the other
opportunities. How do we increase diversity for these
employment opportunities, and what can Congress do to assist?
Mr. Webley. Thank you, Congressman, for that question.
And I guess I would just start it by--
[Audio malfunction.]
Mr. Payne. We cannot hear you.
Mr. Webley. Sorry. Are you not hearing me anymore?
Mr. Payne. Yes. Now we hear you. Go ahead.
Mr. Webley. OK. I apologize. So I will be quick.
I was just going to say to your point, OBAP started out as
the Organization of Black Airline Pilots. Ten years ago, we
changed our name to the Organization of Black Aerospace
Professionals to address exactly what you are talking about.
Probably for every pilot job, there are probably 100 other
jobs in the aerospace professions that are available. So we are
definitely focused at OBAP on trying to expand the
opportunities that are out there.
I think some of the ways that we could approach this from a
congressional standpoint is to expand opportunities such as the
Workforce Development Grants that were announced earlier this
year.
On the pilot side, there was the pilot and unmanned aerial
systems operator grant, and then there was one for mechanics,
but that does not address all of the other career professions
that are out there.
So I would say more diversity within those grant programs,
additional funding for those grant programs so that
organizations such as our organization can continue to do
programming particularly for youth that is not focused on pilot
careers, such as space, engineering, maintenance, technology,
et cetera.
Mr. Payne. Excellent, and I look forward to speaking to you
in the future also about the unmanned aerial space sector. I
work with the African-American Consortium of Drone Operators,
so I want to make sure they are connected to you as well.
But thank you for your answer.
Captain Zapata-Cardone, encouraging young students to
pursue a career in aviation is one of the best ways to bring a
new generation into the field. Like you, I believe that
increasing educational financial aid will allow more students,
especially those from underserved communities, to pursue a
career in aviation.
If we do not increase financial aid, what will be the
consequence?
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Thank you for that question,
Representative Payne.
The consequence is very simple. As everyone has mentioned,
we are not going to get that diversity, equity, and inclusion
within the airline industry and the aerospace industry if we do
not increase the financial aid. That is unfortunate.
We can only do so much. All of our organizations can only
do so much. As Mr. Webley described, we get requests all the
time to go and speak to schools, but we are very limited. There
are not that many Latino pilots that can go to these schools.
Exposure is huge.
The other thing is gatekeepers. A lot of guidance
counselors out there do not realize that there are so many
careers that are in the aviation industry that are available to
their students.
I can just quickly say that when I talked about wanting to
be a pilot or a flight attendant even when I was a teenager, I
was laughed at.
Granted, you cannot see this because I am 5 feet tall and I
am sitting down and I wear glasses. So the military was not an
option for me either to become a pilot, but even when I finally
became aware that I could become a civilian pilot, the
financial cost almost made me walk away.
I am lucky that I had parents that were able to support me
and able to cosign loans for me, lend me money, and my own hard
work of saving up money for all of the certificates and
ratings, but it was overwhelming, and there were several times
I almost left aviation because of the overwhelming financial
barrier that is there.
Mr. Payne. Thank you so much.
And, Dr. Lutte, if the aviation industry does not
voluntarily provide data for metrics such as race and ethnicity
or occupation level, do you think that Congress should require
it?
Ms. Lutte. Yes, I do. The short answer is yes.
Again, how do we know whether we are moving the numbers if
we do not know where we are at?
Some of the racial, ethnicity data that we all talked about
this morning all came from the BLS, which is a fine source, but
it could easily come from a more defined source, if you will,
by adding it to the FAA airman certification data.
So yes. The answer is yes.
Mr. Payne. I yield back the balance of my time. Thank you
for the short answer.
Mr. Kahele. Mahalo, Mr. Payne. The Chair now recognizes Ms.
Titus for 5 minutes.
Ms. Titus. Thank you very much.
I just heard Captain Zapata-Cardone mention about being
short and wearing glasses. I appreciate that, but I want to
continue that kind of discussion.
We have seen where outdated regulations really discriminate
against women, minorities often. Sometimes it is height.
Sometimes it is weight. Sometimes it is hairdo or style.
I wonder if you could comment about how those regulations
may have changed over time or what we can do to push the
industry in that direction so people are not discriminated
against for artificial kinds of reasons or cultural biases.
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. And I am assuming that question was for
me.
Ms. Titus. Yes. I am sorry.
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. OK. Thank you, Representative Titus.
Yes, obviously regulations are there for certain reasons.
Obviously, in the military, military jets are built for a
certain stature. I did not meet that requirement, and I do not
hold the military in any kind of contempt or upset about that
because that is just the way it is.
Certain regulations do need to be enforced for safety, and
obviously back then you needed 20/20 vision. I believe the
military has relaxed their requirements for vision since then.
But as far as the other, like you said, stature or hairdos,
obviously that is the work of every company's DEI to understand
that all hair is professional, and what I mean by this, and I
cannot speak because I am not a Black woman and I want to give
this to Ms. Gibbs, but oftentimes women that are African
American, they are the ones that often suffer from this bias of
hair not being professional.
I am very lucky. I have never suffered from that, but as
far as regulations, obviously I was able to become a flight
attendant for another airline. They had done away with their
stature requirements, and it was actually at that airline that
I started meeting female pilots. So I am forever grateful for
that job that I started meeting female pilots and they mentored
me and put me on this path to becoming a pilot.
But obviously the work needs to be done at the companies
for diversity, equity, and inclusion and recognizing that
everyone looks a little differently. Our hair is all going to
look different. That does not make us unprofessional.
Ms. Titus. Ms. Gibbs, do you want to comment on that?
Ms. Gibbs. Sure. I am proud to say that we recently just
revamped our entire uniform policy to make it more inclusive,
to remove bias, to acknowledge the differences in our skin and
our hair and celebrate those things.
So, we really worked to ensure that there is no longer a
bias around all of the uniform policy.
The other thing that I think is important is we have to
realize that culturally as we bring more people into the fold,
that there is going to be change and transition, and how do you
ensure that there is not bias? That is making it part of
policy.
If you don't change policy and you leave it to
interpretation, then you often leave yourself open for bias to
come in and for people to be penalized for the way their hair
looks or the way they might be wearing their garb that is
native to their culture, their religion.
So, we really wanted to remove those biases and allow our
crewmembers to have the opportunity to express themselves and
to really redefine what professionalism looks like.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. That is great.
I recall a time when flight attendants all had to look like
Barbie dolls, and even Mattel has expanded what Barbie looks
like. So I am glad the airlines are doing the same thing.
Just briefly, we have heard about increasing the
opportunities for STEM fields for students and minority
students. I have been working on something. There is a way to
fund that and that is using the H-1B visas. These are for
foreign workers in high-tech sectors.
If we could use a little more of that funding and designate
it for minority-serving or historically Black colleges and so
that it would go specifically for teaching STEM to those
students, I think that is a way to help build that population
as well as the things like reducing student loan and Pell
grants.
Would you generally agree that might be a good idea?
Anybody?
Ms. Gibbs. We absolutely agree. That is definitely a way to
introduce them, to support colleges, but we have to start
younger. We have to get the kids when they are younger so that
they grow up loving aviation.
So how do you take some of that funding and make STEM
programs that are geared toward education that are really
targeting younger students?
Ms. Titus. That is true. We found that if you do not start
by junior high, you have lost them. So maybe we need not just
higher education but public K through 12.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Kahele. Mahalo. The Chair now recognizes Member Lynch
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Titus just stole my question or comment.
I am former president of the Ironworkers Union in Boston,
and we adopted a program with women in construction to try to
get women and racial minorities into the unions. We thought it
made us a stronger union when our membership reflected the
entire city of Boston.
And thankfully, they have made leaps and bounds, and now
we've had women in leadership positions in that union over the
past 30 years. So they have done a very good job of that.
But what Ms. Titus and Ms. Gibbs have talked about, I also
founded a charter school based on STEM. It is one of the most
diverse charter schools in the city of Boston, but we really,
really have to get in there early.
Our charter school is 5th grade through 12th grade, but you
know, I struggle because when we put it out, we had 3 English
positions that were open, and we had about 140 applicants, but
we had 3 math and science positions open and we got 11
applications because industry is just stealing that talent.
I am just wondering. Is there a way? Can we establish,
like, academic chairs that would pay a stipend or a bonus to
math and science and STEM instructors and teachers to keep them
in the schools at those young ages so we can actually prepare
these young men and women to get into STEM-focused professions
and really to open up the widest opportunity for them as they
are educated?
I am just wondering. I am trying everything to try to get
resources to put those teachers in those schools to prepare
these young people, and I am struggling. I have had limited
success.
Ms. Gibbs, you seem to be all over this issue. I wonder if
you might have some thoughts on that.
Ms. Gibbs. I definitely think that offering stipends for
our educators to stay in the school is important, but there are
also so many programs to get college students who are about to
graduate--how do you get them into schools?
So there are several programs that nonprofit organizations
that work specifically with that target audience that you are
talking about, and so capturing those students while they are
right out of school, energetic and have a lot of ideas, and
bringing them into charter schools and helping them get planted
in their field.
You might not keep them forever, but you will have them
when they first graduate. So I think that is really one of the
ways to continue to look at bringing STEM education to life for
younger students.
And you cannot just do chalk and talk. You have to really
show all of the opportunities within STEM and all of the
opportunities for science, technology, engineering, and math.
And one of the ways to do that is to bring in careers and
let people see the things that they could do if they pursue
some of these avenues.
So good luck, but I think definitely going after some
college students and looking at the nonprofit programs that
exist for that reason will be helpful.
Mr. Lynch. Thank you.
Ms. Zapata, as a union sister--and I appreciate that, you
are right upfront on that--do you think the unions have a role
to play here? Is there something ALPA could do, or the
Machinists Union, to diversify the workforce?
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Absolutely. ALPA has created the
President's Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, which I am a
part of, and we are working with all of the organization,
Latino Pilots Association, OBAP, Sisters of the Skies, Women in
Aviation, in order to collaborate, to reach out to these
communities and show all of these young people.
And it has been said over and over again. We have to get
them at the grade school level to get them inspired to join the
aviation and aerospace industry, but we are working together in
order to diversify what our flight decks look like, to better
represent what the United States actually looks like.
Mr. Lynch. Well, that is great.
My time has basically expired. So I want to thank you, all
of the witnesses, for your willingness to help the committee
with its work.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Kahele. Mahalo, Mr. Lynch. The Chair would like to now
recognize Representative Johnson of Georgia.
[Pause.]
Mr. Kahele. Representative Johnson?
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for holding
this hearing.
And thank you to the witnesses for your time and for your
testimony.
Since the Wright Brothers first took to the skies at the
turn of the 20th century, the dual goals of human aerospace
travel and equality in America have rested on the horizon, the
same as they do with Jeff Bezos and other billionaires
venturing into space. This issue of equality and equity still
looms large like the Earth in front of a spaceship and those in
it.
The dual goals of aerospace travel and equality in America
have rested on the horizon. More than a century later, one
dream has been achieved while the other woefully lags.
Americans of color and women are severely underrepresented
among pilots and flight engineers, and they are absent from
leadership positions across the aviation industry.
Racial injustice must be rooted out of every enterprise of
American life.
Ms. Gibbs, corporate responsibility is not just an industry
buzzword. It is essential to a more just, fair, and prosperous
country.
America's companies large and small must lead by example
and be a part of the solution. Unconscious bias in the training
and hiring processes has long stymied diversity in the
workplace.
However, you state that JetBlue has revamped its hiring
process to reduce unconscious bias. What specific changes have
been made to the hiring process, and how do those changes
advance the goal of mitigating unintended discrimination?
Ms. Gibbs. Thank you for your question.
So we have two initiatives that we have put forth recently.
One is Blue Select, and that is a required training program for
how we interview, designated to reduce bias in the interview
process.
And so we reduce inherent bias by having a structured
interview process where we define the competencies that we want
to evaluate to advance the interview. So if you meet
competencies, we cannot interject personal opinion. And so we
really want to make sure that everyone is being interviewed
using the Blue Select process.
That makes sure that we are putting forth everybody on an
equal playing field and advancing them solely based on
competencies.
The other thing that we are doing to increase diversity in
leadership is the Diverse Slate initiative. And so historically
for officers and above or directors and above, about 50 percent
of the candidates have been from underrepresented minority
groups.
And so how do you continually make sure that that number is
higher?
And then how do you advance those people?
So if you present more opportunities, more diversity, we
believe that will give us an opportunity to select the best
candidate from a diverse pool of people.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. All right. Thank you.
Ms. Gibbs. And using this process, that helps with
mitigating bias.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. OK. Thank you for that answer.
Mr. Kaiser, airline companies are generally successful at
integrating former military pilots into their ranks. What
efforts then are underway to integrate military personnel who
worked in support roles, such as mechanics and crewmembers,
into civilian aviation?
And can you tell us about what your company is doing in
that regard to ensure equity for underrepresented persons?
Mr. Kaiser. Yes, sir. So I am not qualified to speak on
behalf of the industry and companies and what their individual
programs are.
I can speak to our program and what we are doing and who we
are targeting. We go after everybody in the military. It is no
secret that you get a huge, diverse group that joins the
military, and they are looking at it as a step up in society,
right?
When you come from a home where you have seen people
struggle, you look at the military as that window of hope that
is going to give you an opportunity to advance myself and my
family, again, have a better life.
And I think what we need to focus on is actually, you know,
I have heard measuring and following through, but it is the
following through that needs to happen. We need to actually
ensure that it is a stepping up into that next career
regardless of what that next career is and where that person
came from.
Mr. Johnson of Georgia. Thank you. My time has expired and
I yield back.
Mr. Kahele. Mahalo, Mr. Johnson.
The Chair would like to now recognizes Mr. Cohen for 5
minutes.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank the chairman of the full committee and the
chairman of the subcommittee for having this hearing which is
so important.
It is amazing the lack of diversity that we see in the
aeronautics industry in personnel, and we need to do what we
can to improve that.
The witnesses have talked about the fact that less than 5
percent of airline pilots are women; 3.4 percent are African
American; 5.4 percent of aircraft technicians are women; and
only 10.8 percent of aircraft technicians are African American.
Less than one-half of 1 percent of total professional pilots
are Black women.
These are staggering discrepancies, and they need to be
rectified.
Mr. Webley, you are the chair of the board of directors of
the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals. As a
distribution hub of America, my district, Memphis, Tennessee,
claims an extensive network of transportation infrastructure
that contributes heavily to our Nation's aviation industry.
Home to the Memphis International Airport, which houses the
FedEx super hub, and our local economy depends on a strong
aviation system, and we have got a majority African-American
population in our city. Sixty-four percent of that population
is African American.
It is important our aviation professionals are
representative of our community. In Olive Branch, Mississippi,
your organization opened a Lieutenant Colonel Luke Weathers,
Jr. Flight Academy, with a goal to train more than 225 Memphis-
area high school students to become certified flight
instructors or secure private instrument ratings by the year
2025.
This is special to me because Lieutenant Colonel Weathers,
who was a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen who flew 112
combat missions during World War II, was the first African-
American air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation
Administration at the Memphis airport. He is honored with a
plaque at the airport.
I was honored to attend his funeral in Memphis and to
attend his burial at Arlington Cemetery where he was buried
with full honors, a true American hero and a great aviation
pioneer.
Can you speak to the importance of this flight academy
named in Lieutenant Weathers' honor in Memphis and how it has
helped facilitate the aviation opportunities to students in
Memphis area schools and other individuals in the mid-South
region?
Mr. Webley. Thank you, sir. I really appreciate getting
this question.
The Luke Weathers Flight Academy which you mentioned is
absolutely one of the things that we are most proud of at OBAP.
It is one of the very few truly nonprofit organizations that is
not a university that is focused 100 percent on producing more
pilots from underrepresented communities, specifically like you
said, the Greater Memphis area.
One of the things I think that makes Luke Weathers the most
unique in the area is, again, we are not focused on generating
revenue through that program. We measure our success by the
impact in outcomes that come from it.
We consider our students to be members. They are part of
our family. So the moment that they walk out of the door, out
of the flight school, we still continue to care and be
concerned about their well-being, whether it is their physical,
emotional, spiritual well-being, et cetera.
So that is one of the most important things about what Luke
Weathers is doing. With our partnerships through FedEx and the
Greater Memphis School District, Shelby County School District,
we have been able to train and educate dozens of new pilots.
Specifically, right now, we have 23 young Black women in
training right now at Luke Weathers, which I do not think that
number is matched anywhere else in the country in terms of
effort to get that number you talked about, one-half of 1
percent, to increase that number.
So, yes, we are very proud of it.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you for your work, your organization's
work, and honoring Lieutenant Colonel Weathers.
Federal Express has got an outstanding record on diversity
efforts, and they have been recognized for that over the years,
both in pilot recruiting, diversity inclusion, aircraft
mechanic recruiting, and other areas. So I am pleased that you
are working with them.
Let me ask the ladies on the panel, Captain Zapata-Cardone
and Ms. Lutte.
Is there any reason that women are institutionally
neglected in the pipeline of airline personnel, that they are
less involved in the military, less likely to be selected as
military pilots that oftentimes filter into the commercial
aviation or other areas where they have a larger hurdle to
overcome to get into the industry?
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Thank you for that question.
The time is up. So I would like to ask if you would like
for Dr. Lutte and I to submit a written response to that
question.
Mr. Cohen. Time is up, but time is never up for two
outstanding witnesses to respond to a question.
Ms. Zapata-Cardone. Well, thank you.
Obviously, yes, and I always refer to Dr. Lutte's research
that there are a lot of biases. There are a lot of unconscious
biases, outright discrimination against women, and this is not
just in the military.
And I have never been in the military. So I cannot speak as
a military pilot, but just in my own experiences, being
dismissed. One of the funniest ones is I was told that I was
not strong enough to be a pilot, that the aircraft would
overpower me and I would never be able to recover from a deep
stall, which is absolutely ludicrous.
There are biases because I am a Latina. People knew that my
parents were Colombian. Many people jokingly, but it still
hurt, asked if I was becoming a pilot so I could do drug runs
from Colombia back to the United States, and these are all
micro aggressions that add up, and that is speaking from my
experience.
Listening to other women speak about their experiences,
they have experienced different discrimination factors, but we
all have the same story, that we all persevered. We tried not
to listen to these biases and continue on.
And then I will pass this off to Dr. Lutte.
Ms. Lutte. Well, thank you, Captain Zapata-Cardone.
You perfectly described the experiences that many, many,
many women in aviation have, having read hundreds if not
thousands of survey responses on this topic. So you are exactly
right.
So to answer the question, yes, there are significant
barriers, but this particular barrier, again, is one of the
greatest, and if we do not address this issue, we do not move
the needle.
And that starts from the top with visible, loud commitment
from leadership and, quite frankly, setting an environment of
respect for all and zero tolerance for anything else, not just
in words, but in action.
Mr. Cohen. I want to thank the witnesses and thank the
chairman for his indulgence in allowing me the extraordinary
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Kahele. No problem, Mr. Cohen.
The Chair now recognizes Member Norton for 5 minutes.
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Can everybody hear me?
Mr. Kahele. Yes, ma'am.
Ms. Norton. My question is for Dr. Lutte.
Excuse me? Can you hear me?
Mr. Kahele. Yes, ma'am, we can hear you. Can you repeat
your question and who it was directed towards?
Ms. Norton. Dr. Rebecca Lutte.
Dr. Lutte, your testimony outlines the challenges that
women have faced in balancing work and family. I would be
interested in any concrete family-friendly policies that you
think the aviation industry should adopt to retain and to
ensure the steadiness of the career advancement of their female
workforce.
Ms. Lutte. Thank you for that question, Representative
Norton.
We know we talked about culture and bias and those factors,
but as an example, in one survey of women in aviation, 38
percent of the women said they had thought about leaving the
industry. So if we cannot hold on to who we have, we are not
going to increase the numbers.
And in a followup question asking why, the number one
reason most often given was the challenge of work-family
balance, followed by that workplace culture that we were just
talking about with Captain Zapata-Cardone.
So we know it is an issue. We know it needs to be
addressed. So how do we address it? We look at things like paid
family leave, maternity and paternity leave, flexible
schedules, and recognizing, you know, unique ways.
We certainly learned a lot in the last year on scheduling
and flexibility, but we have also seen what is referred to as
the ``shecession'' in our industry with disproportionately
losing women in the workforce because they take up more of the
burden of work at home and childcare and caregiving. So we need
to recognize that as well.
So I think it is important, and I appreciate the question
that we look at family policies like paid family leave and
flexible scheduling to address some of these issues.
Ms. Norton. Thank you.
This is a question for Mr. Webley because I am interested
in your testimony. You describe your organization's school
outreach efforts.
So I would be interested in knowing how many school visits
does your network typically conduct, let's say, in a year and
how many do you think would be needed to effectively build
awareness about aviation career opportunities?
Mr. Webley. Thank you, Representative, for the question.
So I could give you pre-COVID numbers because obviously
with things that happened with COVID, being physically in
schools no longer became an option for many of our members.
So most recent data from 2019, again, that is a pre-COVID
number. By the end of February, we had reached 50,000 students,
and we were on track to reach 100,000 students in a single
year.
Our program to date has reached well over 200,000 students
across the country. I do not have my total number of schools in
front of me, but I believe it is somewhere in the range of 250
schools, and that is just 1 organization.
A 100-percent volunteer program. We receive no dollars to
operate that program. That is purely our members volunteering
to go out and do the good work.
So, it would be very difficult for me to estimate how many
more schools, but I can say that year over year, the program
continues to grow, and what I would attribute that to is the
more educators find out about it, the more they want us to
participate in that program.
So, I would say the growth is probably limitless especially
if you start talking about outside of major city centers where
it is easier to find volunteers. If we start going into
smaller, midsize cities, rural communities, things of that
nature, it probably is a limitless amount of educators that
want to participate.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much. I yield.
Mr. Kahele. All right. Do I have any more to testify? Just
myself.
OK. Well, I am going to yield myself 5 minutes then.
And first of all, I want to thank the chair and the ranking
member for having this committee hearing. I think it is
something very, very important.
And I also want to thank the organizations that inspire
future pilots and mechanics and children across the country to
enter the aviation and aeronautics sector, organizations like
AOPA and ALPA and OBAP and Women in Aviation, and the thousands
of pilots across the country who sit at career fares and
aviation trade shows and military air shows and so many that
volunteer to inspire the next generation of aviators.
I also want to thank Captain Zapata-Cardone for your
testimony. I think it was spot on, and as someone who is a
Native Hawaiian pilot, recognizing a Latina pilot that just
decades ago was very few and far to come by, it is quite an
accomplishment of what you have been able to do, and thank you
for sharing your story.
I think what you highlighted in your testimony,
specifically the financial challenges of seeking an airline
career or a highly skilled aviation profession career is
something that we as a Congress can address.
You talked about the Federal education aid program, such as
the Pell grants and programs that in many cases are tied to
accreditation. You talked about the GI bill and its expansion,
and we know that unless you have a private pilot's license, you
cannot use your GI bill for flight training programs.
You talked about student loan cancellation and student loan
forgiveness. I think these are all things we can do to
incentivize aviation throughout the country.
And so, I want to thank you for your testimony but direct
the funding component of your testimony to Dr. Lutte at the
University of Nebraska and their Omaha Aviation Institution,
which is an accredited program.
Do you have any suggestions on how either the public or the
private sector can increase the financial incentives or the
financial opportunities for students, especially from minority
and underrepresented communities, to pursue careers in
aviation, to put them on pathways to get into American cockpits
across the country?
Ms. Lutte. Thank you for that question.
In addition to the financial aid that has already been
discussed, there are a couple of areas to talk about in terms
of cost. One, of course, is scholarships, acknowledging that
organizations like Women in Aviation International has given
out over $14\1/2\ million in scholarships in their existence.
But the other, to your point, is industry buying in and
ponying up and putting some money on the table. And we are
seeing some good examples of that. The United Aviate Academy,
you know, if you get accepted to the academy, they pay for your
private pilot license.
Another one that I am really excited about is AAR, which is
a collaboration between a global aviation services and
maintenance provider, education, Department of Labor grant
funding, and labor unions to help provide, at no charge,
training for sheet metal courses, for example.
And that program that they do is actually targeted at
Chicago at the South Side, and it is almost entirely targeted
to underrepresented groups.
So that is a collaboration between education and industry
where you are targeting underrepresented groups. They are
getting paid skill, learn to earn, if you will, and they will
take that skill set and be able to go right into AAR or into
other aviation industry, and they are beginning to stack that
skill, continuing to work with education to continue to add to
their credentials.
So I think industry collaboration is a really important
part of the puzzle for the cost issue.
Mr. Kahele. Are you seeing students that attend the program
at the University of Nebraska, that in addition to their
college tuition and all the fees associated with that, have to
cover the cost of their flight provider fees, which in cases
can run from $40,000 a year up to $85,000 a year?
Are you seeing that they are having issues utilizing the
Pell grant or other Federal financial aid programs that could
be, I guess, opened up more to aviation career fields?
Ms. Lutte. Without a doubt, yes. So we know, for example,
the Pell grant program doesn't even cover the cost really of
tuition these days. So it is what, $6,400 max, I think, for the
year. Our instate tuition runs about $19,000 with housing, and
that is not counting flight on top of that.
So then you are going to add, say, $50,000 in flight
training cost on top of your tuition, housing, fees, and
everything else. It is not enough.
We absolutely need to increase access to Pell grants and
financial aid funding for students to be successful, and that
includes being able to target a wide variety and diversity of
students.
Mr. Kahele. All right. Thank you for that answer, and it
looks like our time is up.
So Mr. Graves.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank all of the witnesses for being here today
and, most importantly, helping us identify some of the
obstacles that are impediments into working to help improve the
diversity of our workforce.
But as I mentioned in my opening statement, just making
sure that we have a workforce that is there to meet the demands
moving forward, as the chairman has noted.
So, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I yield back.
Mr. Kahele. All right. And with that, we are adjourned.
Thank you so much.
[Whereupon, at 1:03 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

Submissions for the Record

----------

Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Larsen and Ranking Member Graves, and thank you to
our witnesses for being here today.
I'm pleased the Chair has called this hearing to discuss the
importance of Congress, the FAA, and industry stakeholders working
together to ensure a strong pipeline of training and opportunities for
people seeking careers in aerospace.
We held a similar hearing during last Congress, right before the
COVID-19 pandemic took hold.
The issue of developing a skilled and diverse workforce was
critical then and is even more critical now.
This Committee worked in a bipartisan manner to pass the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2018, which included the large and comprehensive
aviation workforce title, including provisions intended to improve
diversity in the industry.
The aviation industry has stepped up to the plate as well, and is
investing significant resources to develop a pipeline of talented and
diverse workers.
For example, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has
created a high school STEM curriculum that is being taught in 28 states
in over 200 high schools across the country.
More than 45 percent of the participants are students of color.
There are many other examples of ways industry, labor, and academia
are recruiting and training the workforce of the future.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about how initiatives
like AOPA's are working and how they will help the United States
maintain its competitive advantage in aerospace.
Thank you, Chair Larsen. I yield back.

Prepared Statement of Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Texas
Thank you, Subcommittee Chairman Larsen and Ranking Member Graves
for holding today's hearing, which will allow our committee to delve
into prospective paths to increase minority participation in the
aviation industry. I would like to thank our outstanding witnesses for
testifying, and my colleagues on the Aviation Subcommittee for engaging
in this critical discussion.
Both in my capacity as Chairwoman of the Committee on Science,
Space and Technology and the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, increasing access for women and minorities to enter and
excel in STEM related occupations is one of my top priorities.
Certainly, the statistics regarding the lack of minorities and women in
STEM fields and in aviation related professions specifically is
alarming. In the aviation sector, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
reports that 94 percent of all U.S. aircraft pilots and flight
engineers are white males, while most airline executives and senior
leadership and management positions are occupied primarily by white
males as well. Clearly, this is an issue that needs to be addressed
immediately.

Prepared Statement of Faye Malarkey Black, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Regional Airline Association, Submitted for the
Record by Hon. Garret Graves
The Regional Airline Association (RAA) thanks the U.S. House
Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Aviation
for holding the hearing titled, ``Bridging the Gap: Improving Diversity
and Inclusion in the U.S. Aviation Workforce.'' RAA submits this
statement for the record to inform the Committee on the regional
airline industry's efforts to foster and support a diverse and
inclusive aviation workforce and urge additional partnership between
the federal government and the aviation industry to promote a robust,
diverse, and well-trained aviation workforce.
The Regional Airline Association has seventeen airline members and,
collectively, our industry employs approximately 70,000 individuals who
work every day to deliver passengers and cargo to their destinations
and uphold the highest principles and practices of aviation safety. As
has been well documented, the United States is facing substantial
workforce shortages for aviation maintenance technicians and pilots in
the immediate and near-term, and much of the long-term health of the
regional airline industry rests on our collective ability to resolve
these shortages. It is RAA's position that we will only be able to meet
this objective by recruiting and attracting more diverse people from a
variety of backgrounds into our industry. In addition, our members are
committed to diversity and inclusion as a both a deeply held value and
a long-term business strategy, which is embedded within their hiring
practices for all career paths and supported by business operations
that foster a work environment where employees can embrace who they are
and freely share their varied backgrounds, experiences and
perspectives. Broadly, efforts to reach and attract diverse candidates
focus on three interrelated strategies, which include financial
assistance for education and training; outreach, partnerships, and
pathway programs; and representation.
As the industry sector that hires more first year pilots than any
other, we have a unique perspective to share. While today's statement
presents only a small sampling of the many programs underway today to
foster diversity and inclusion among our member airlines, these
examples illustrate how outreach to underrepresented populations as
well as inclusion and support programs at airlines present two key
elements of building and maintaining a diverse aviation workforce. We
also hope to draw attention to a missing element, highlighting a key
role for the US Government to play in leveling the playing field for
aspiring aviators by ensuring equitable access to training through
rightsized student loans. To succeed in building a diverse and vibrant
aviation workforce, aviation candidates must be supported at every
step, from early career aspirations, through education and training and
into a welcoming and inclusive post-hire environment.
Airlines have made continuous investments in these arenas, making
considerable headway through programs designed to spark career interest
among candidates who have been historically underrepresented in the
career, while offering rewarding careers to a diverse workforce.
Nonetheless, no amount of generated interest, and no amount of
investment in a post-hire environment, can make up for the tremendous
disconnect that transpires when some students and families have the
financial wherewithal to access training, while others do not. Airlines
are stepping in here as well, with moves that garner headlines, such as
the development of airline owned or sponsored flight training
institutions with deep tuition subsidies and airline-backed lending, as
well as other programs like scholarships, tuition reimbursements and
numerous other steps to help more pilots afford training. Although
these programs are important and helpful, they cannot begin to address
the cost barriers facing students from economically disadvantaged
backgrounds and cannot fully remedy the fact that students with wealth
or access to private capital can fund or finance the training required
for this lucrative career, but students without those means cannot.
This inequity in training access is a fundamental public policy problem
that must be addressed to successfully foster a diverse future
workforce.
Financial Assistance for Flight Education & Training
The high cost of flight education and training prevents many
individuals from becoming pilots when they cannot pay for the training
outright or qualify for private loans. The high costs of pilot training
pose a particular barrier for students from lower income households.
According to the Brookings Institute, the median white household has a
net worth ten times that of the median black household \1\. This
persistent racial wealth gap means the burden of cost, as a barrier to
pilot training access, falls more heavily on black families than white
families. The resulting disparity in pilot training access impedes the
goal of achieving diversity in the aviation workforce. These objectives
have been of paramount importance to industry and lawmakers for
decades, yet progress has been unacceptably slow. According to the
Census Bureau Labor Force Statistics Demographic Data for Pilots &
Flight Engineers \2\, the pilot profession is not diverse--with 94% of
the profession identifying as White, 5.6 percent Female, 3.4 percent
Black, 2.2 percent Asian and 5 percent Hispanic. Even where economic
background is not statistically associated with an underrepresented
population, financial barriers that deter or prevent some candidates
from pursuing training further constricts an already unacceptably
narrow pool of potential candidates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2021/01/08/
charts-of-the-week-the-racial-wealth-gap-the-middle-class-income-slump/
\2\ See Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey,
Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The disparities outlined above showcase some of the financial
obstacles that contribute to an unacceptable lack of diversity within
pilot ranks. This not only stands as an affront to the goals of a
modern, vibrant and inclusive workforce, it imperils the financial
health of the aviation industry. According to Boeing's 2020 Pilot and
Technician Outlook, North America will need more than 200,000 new
pilots over the next 20 years, or approximately 10,000 new pilots each
year. Contributing to this demand are age-driven retirements; fully 47
percent of today's qualified commercial airline pilot workforce face
mandatory retirement within the next fifteen years and roughly 13
percent of all ATP AMEL airmen with valid 1st class medicals will reach
their federally mandated age-65 retirement age within five years
(Figure A).
As we approach these retirements, and despite a strong job outlook
and median pay of $160,970 for airline pilots \3\, far too few new
pilots are entering the profession to meet the projected demand. In
fact, according to the U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics, only 6,664 Airline
Transport Pilot (ATP) and Restricted (R-ATP) certificates were issued
in 2019 and just 3,999 such certificates were issued in 2020. The
monthly average through May 2021 was 257 new certificates, which is 288
lower than the average in 2019. Should production continue at current
rates, 2021 is forecast to produce just 3,086 new ATP AMEL airmen;
which is 53 percent fewer than 2019 (Figure B). While low certificate
production in 2020 certainly reflects COVID-19 impacts, issuances
remain depressed as of mid-year 2021. While these numbers may indicate
some programs have been slow to recover from the pandemic, if
certificate issuances do not recover more fully in the coming months,
concern for a future qualified workforce only increases. In either
case, high demand for airline pilots presents an additional challenge
within the training pipeline, as flight schools face difficulty
retaining their instructor workforce during periods of intense airline
hiring.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See Occupation Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2020, Bureau
of Labor Statistics, Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers:
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes532011.htm

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Data files distributed monthly by Carla Colwell, Functional Analyst,
Airmen Certification Branch,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal Aviation Administration

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Data files distributed monthly by Carla Colwell, Functional Analyst,
Airmen Certification Branch,
Federal Aviation Administration

To meet industry demand and create a more diverse workforce, flight
education and training must be made more accessible to a larger
population of candidates, especially those who are underrepresented in
the profession. To do this, it is important to view the costs of
training in the context of higher education assistance available to
students today. Due to the cost of operating aircraft used in training
programs, associated insurance requirements and the cost of flight
training instruction, flight training typically adds $80,000 to the
cost of a four-year degree, for a total of at least $120,000 for a
professional pilot degree at public, in-state institution \4\. Unlike
graduate students who can borrow additional student loans to support
their professional studies and certifications, individuals enrolled in
flight education and training programs are capped at an undergraduate
student loan ceiling of $57,500 for an independent student and $31,000
for a dependent student. Additionally, even if the individual qualifies
for the maximum yearly Pell grant award of $6,345, there remains a
substantial aid gap relative to the cost of attendance. To address this
gap, RAA and other aviation stakeholders have offered a proposal for
increasing the amount of federal student loan aid by $80,000 for
unsubsidized loans and $42,000 for subsidized loans for individuals
enrolled in accredited flight education and training programs. We
firmly believe this will help close this aid gap and finally make the
pilot profession more diverse and inclusive. Importantly, these
additional loans would allow aspiring pilots to easily enroll in
Department of Education Income-Driven Repayment plans to ensure that
they have affordable loan payments once they graduate. RAA anticipates
this proposal will be formally introduced in legislation this year.
This is one of the single most important steps the US Government can
play in addressing pilot training access disparity for a more inclusive
and equitable career and we ask every Member of this Committee for your
support for this legislation when introduced.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-
college/articles/paying-for-college-infographic
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While the above proposal will benefit all prospective pilots,
including Veterans, we want to draw additional attention to hurdles
faced by Veterans who wish to use their GI bill benefits to become
commercial pilots. These veterans struggle against limitations related
to using their benefits for paying for their flight education and
training as part of a professional pilot degree. Today, GI bill
benefits cannot be used to pay for a private pilot certificate. This
certificate is the first step to becoming a commercial airline pilot,
and it comes at a cost of between $10,000 and $15,000. The inability of
the GI bill to cover this cost, especially when it covers all other
flight training and education costs associated with a profession pilot
degree program, is a disincentive for those who wish to enter the pilot
career path. The USG should fully incentivize veterans' participation
in this highly lucrative and in-demand profession, and we urge Members
of this Committee to work in partnerships with their colleagues on the
House Committee of Veteran's Affairs to remove this critical impediment
so that it is easier for veterans to become commercial pilots.
Outreach, Partnerships, & Pathway Programs
Alongside promoting training access equity, airlines are focusing
on outreach to more diverse audiences, attracting candidates to
aviation who may not have considered the career without specific
outreach designed to include them. As one important means of reaching
diverse populations, regional airlines partner with organizations who
regularly engage and support underrepresented candidates who are
seeking aviation careers, such as the Organization for Black Aviation
Professionals, National Gay Pilots Association, Women in Aviation,
Sisters of the Skies, Latinos Pilot Association, Professional Asians
Pilots Association and others. This engagement includes supporting
scholarship programs and attending events with these organizations to
educate students on the careers and opportunities available to them.
Many of these organizations host career fairs that offer a safe and
welcoming environment for members of these communities to speak with
potential employers and to even interview for a position within the
company. They also host guest speakers to educate employers on
awareness of diversity and inclusion issues such as implicit bias in
the workforce. RAA members cite close partnerships with these
organizations both in physical outreach and as a source of better
understanding. Airlines have taken their lead from some of these
organizations, through listening sessions with their members and
employees.
Carriers also attend and host events at flight schools and
collegiate programs with diverse populations, especially in communities
that they serve. For example, Cape Air founded a flight training
program in Owensboro, Kentucky (a community where they provide the sole
source of commercial air service, through the Essential Air Service
program) to make flight education and training more hands-on and
accessible. Similarly, at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts,
Cape Air invests in a 24-month airplane maintenance training program to
help meet the need for highly skilled technicians, training them in
airframe and power plant repair and culminating in certification--
including full FAA Certification. Both programs offer further
incentives if students join Cape Air after graduation. Additionally,
CommutAir has assisted with funding training for Airframe and
Powerplant licenses for mechanics along with prepaying for flight
training hours for veterans who are transitioning from rotary to fixed
wing aircraft. For civilian pilots, the carrier has also paid for
certified flight instructor ratings for individuals so that it is
easier for them to gain flight hours to qualify as a first officer at a
Part 121 air carrier.
Airline outreach is not limited to college-age students; in fact,
carriers conduct outreach to students in elementary, middle and high
school in diverse school districts to help inspire an interest in
aviation career paths. They also participate in aviation summer camps
where students tour facilities and aircraft and speak with pilots and
senior leaders about their jobs. All RAA members are engaging with
their communities, offering opportunities that expose students to
aviation. This outreach is also not limited to airlines. One of the
most impressive examples of this outreach can be found right here in
Washington, through the Aero Club of Washington Foundation. The
Foundation enjoys well-deserved support from RAA and many other
Washington-area aviation groups for its strong work connecting students
in the District of Columbia, who might not otherwise gain any exposure
to aviation, with aviation experiences, like touring a flight simulator
or control tower or hearing from real, diverse people who have
succeeded in aviation. More information about the Foundation is
available on its website at https://www.aeroclub.org/foundation/.
Service members who are transitioning out of the military and
veterans are also highly sought-after employees because they often have
transferable skills and training that fits well within the airline
industry in addition to the unique life experiences and backgrounds
they bring to their work. Carriers regularly conduct outreach on
military bases that are near hub locations along with attending job
fairs and events and working with staffing agencies and conferences
that are specifically for recruiting individuals with a military
background. In one example of working with veterans, PSA Airlines has
launched a Maintenance Military Transition program for mechanics that
are looking to transition through an abbreviated airframe and
powerplant course and test to become a mechanic. Experienced and
qualified veterans are offered assistance up to $10,000 which includes
the course, testing, and a training stipend.
Additionally, many regional carriers have partnered with larger
airlines to create pathway programs where pilots work at a regional
airline before they move to a larger carrier. Pathway programs also
partner with schools with diverse student populations, including
minority serving higher education institutions like Historically Black
Colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions, as part of their
recruitment and outreach efforts. These programs are designed to
identify and prepare candidates for careers as pilots. Once admitted to
the program, these candidates are mentored by individuals with similar
backgrounds and life experiences.
In addition to recruitment and outreach, one of the major
attractions of pathway programs for aspiring pilots is that they
provide a career path for the individual with guarantees of employment
at various stages of their career. For example, at the end of the basic
training that provides a pilot with a Commercial Certificate, they will
know where they can build time to meet the hours necessary for a
Restricted Airline Transport Pilot Certificate. Once that has been
achieved, they will have preferred interviews or even a guaranteed seat
at a regional airline. Furthermore, the pathway program will specify
the time that the pilot will have to spend at the regional airline
before an opening at a major airline is made available. The stability
offered by pathway programs helps to encourage individuals into the
industry by offering pilots career certainty, and a greater ability to
predict where and when each step of their career will take place.
Many airline employees have long held aspirations to become pilots;
however, like other individuals, the high cost of training has deterred
them from recognizing this dream. Some regional carriers like Cape Air
for instance have created internal programs to provide financial
assistance to cover a portion of their employees' flight training
expenses so that they can realize their dream of becoming a pilot.
Republic Airways has opened its own flight training school call LIFT
(Leadership in Flight Training) Academy that utilizes state of the art
equipment and training practices to train the next generation of
pilots. Students who successfully complete the career pathway program
will have a guaranteed pathway to a career as a pilot at the air
carrier. Through this program, Republic subsidizes the cost of the
flight training by $15,000 dropping the tuition from $90,000 to
$75,000. Supporting LIFT academy is an aviation maintenance
apprenticeship program in partnership with the U.S. Department of
Labor, apprenticeships will learn as they earn over a thirty-six month
period, and upon completion will be ready to begin a career as an
Aviation Maintenance Technician.
Representation
A key element of recruiting and retaining diverse talent is
ensuring representation across employee groups. As one RAA member has
put it, people want and need to see other people that look like them
and share their backgrounds when they choose a career path.
Representation is essential for creating a safe space for employees to
share their life experiences and perspectives. This challenge is most
prevalent and pervasive within the pilot and mechanic ranks, which are
overwhelmingly white, male dominated professions. Unfortunately, it is
not uncommon to hear women and people of color share stories at career
fairs about how they never though they could become a pilot or mechanic
because they never saw someone like them in the role growing up.
In one example of fostering representation, Horizon Airlines is
committed to increasing its racial diversity among its leadership to
better reflect the diversity in its frontline workforce. They also
utilize their internship program to support a diverse pipeline of
future employees. While some aviation professions, such as pilot,
flight attendant, and maintenance technicians, are better known, there
are many other less well-known career paths that are critical to the
success of the company. Horizon's most recent intern class was greater
than 50 percent BIPOC.
Human Resource Departments for regional air carrier also often have
formal goals related to recruiting diverse candidates for open roles
and provide tools to leaders to help foster an environment of
inclusion. For instance, Cape Air provides managers and leaders with
resources to identify signs of implicit biases to help a maintain a
safe and inclusive workplace for women, people of color, and veterans
to feel comfortable sharing their perspectives.
Tools and resources are also provided directly to employees to
encourage their continued education and development. Piedmont Airlines
utilizes its Employee Resource Groups to drive engagement on diversity
and inclusion. In these groups, employees are provided a safe space to
exchange best practices, learn, have difficult conversations, network
and have fun. Similarly, PSA Airlines utilizes an Inclusion Council to
provide insights from employees related to its efforts to create a more
inclusive and diverse culture and workforce. Leaders on the Council
work towards bringing team members together across employee groups with
the aim promoting understanding and embracing differences. They also
act as outreach ambassadors for PSA.
Lastly, carriers also highlight the existing diversity within their
companies and their commitment to increasing representation through
social media engagement, outreach efforts, and utilizing events such as
Black History Month in February and Veteran's Day, to raise awareness
and foster engagement throughout the company. In addition, carriers
encourage their employees to authentically be themselves by showing
support for diversity and diverse causes such as Black Lives Matter and
Pride. Carriers emphasize that efforts must not simply follow
headlines, nor should be limited to providing commentary at opportune
times; instead, carriers are seeking to develop a genuine culture
around including and celebrating diverse employee groups--consistently
showing that support internally as well as outwardly.
Conclusion
Thank you for your leadership in holding this critical hearing. The
workforce challenges facing the regional airline industry are pressing
and threaten the economic health of our industry, but we believe there
is also tremendous opportunity to create a more robust and diverse
workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. We stand
ready to partner with the Committee to support a vibrant, diverse, and
inclusive aviation workforce. Thank you for this opportunity to provide
our comments.

Appendix

----------

Questions from Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson to Rebecca Lutte, Ph.D.,
CFII, MEI, Associate Professor, Aviation Institute, University of
Nebraska at Omaha

Question 1. Professor Lutte, as you note in your testimony, the
percentage of women in the field of aviation has increased just
minimally over the years. In your estimation, what are the underlying
reasons you attribute that to?
Answer. As noted in my testimony [https://transportation.house.gov/
committee-activity/hearings/bridging-the-gap-improving-diversity-and-
inclusion-in-the-us-aviation-workforce], women remain significantly
underrepresented in many aviation occupations with representation often
less 20%. The greatest gaps exist in senior leadership roles (3%),
airline pilots (5%), and maintenance technicians (2.5%). In many
classifications, the number of women in aviation has changed by only a
percentage point or less in the last 15 years.
Research supports the underlying reasons can be attributed to:
Outreach: Need for additional outreach
+ Should include a ``see it, be it'' element
+ Emphasis on youth. Age 10 and under is a key age group to
target.
+ Provide important ``next step'' information. Access to clear
pathway information is essential. Provide resources/website with
pathway information.
+ Outreach should also target those who are ``gatekeepers'' or
influencers such as school counselors, teachers, and parents. These key
groups need to be better informed on the pathways to aviation careers
through resources/website to provide that information.
+ Numerous excellent youth outreach programs targeting women in
aviation exist. Support for expanding these programs and creating
additional programs should be provided. Examples include:
Women in Aviation Girls in Aviation Day
OBAP Girls Launch
99s mentorship program and Let's Fly Now!
Sisters of the Skies Girls Rock Wings
Cost of entry
+ Particularly challenging for those pursuing professional
flight careers.
+ Need for increased access to financial aid (grants and loans)
for students to cover not only tuition and fees but the added costs
associated with aviation programs such as flight training ($50,000-
$80,000).
+ Expand scholarship opportunities and create resources to
increase awareness of available scholarships.
Family work balance
+ A clear challenge for women in aviation that impacts retention
is work family balance.
+ Family supportive work policies are needed:
Flexible work schedules
Paid parental leave to include both maternity and
paternity leave
Workplace culture: Need to create a positive environment
+ Negative workplace culture has been identified as a primary
deterrent to the recruitment and retention of women in aviation.
+ Need to address gender bias, discrimination, and sexual
harassment in the workplace.
Education and awareness
Zero tolerance policy
Create a confidential reporting system
+ Provide communities of support such as employee resource
groups
+ Requires leadership commitment to diversity and inclusion
+ Address artifacts/symbols of culture
Language
Images in publications, marketing, social media
Uniforms
Lack of Women in Leadership Positions
+ In the International Aviation Women's Association (IAWA)
Soaring Through the Glass Ceiling study \1\, the two most important
enablers for the advancement of women in aviation were identified as
having more women role models in leadership and ensuring a strong and
visible commitment to diversity and inclusion from leadership.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Korn Ferry. (2020). IAWA Soaring through the glass ceiling.
https://www.kornferry.com/content/dam/kornferry/docs/pdfs/aviation-
glass-ceiling.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Need for mentoring programs
+ Need for sponsorship programs

Question 2. Professor Lutte, in your testimony you say that
``establishing a comprehensive system of tracking data and reporting on
trends is the only way to verify that diversity investments and efforts
are working.'' What do you think are the best avenues in which we can
encourage companies in the aviation field to not only conduct this kind
of research but to act upon it as well?
Answer:
FAA Data Changes
FAA Airmen Certification Data is a valuable source for
gender data in aviation but should be expanded to include not only
race/ethnicity, but the ability to break down gender data by race/
ethnicity.

Annual Industry Workforce Reporting
Annual workforce data reporting by aviation organizations
should be publicly available. Workforce data should be reported by
gender, race/ethnicity, and occupation level for increased transparency
of the number of members of underrepresented groups employed and in
leadership positions.
Boeing Best Practice: One best practice example of this
is Boeing's recent move to publicly display on their website their
workforce data along with a message from leadership acknowledging the
efforts to do more.\2\ (Boeing 2021 Global Equity, Diversity &
Inclusion Report). As stated in a recent Harvard Business Review
article, if a company doesn't track representation, the company isn't
serious about gender equity.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Boeing 2021 Global Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Report.
https://www.boeing.com/principles/diversity-and-inclusion/annual-
report/
\3\ Kersey, A. Women at Work. Harvard Business Review. https://
m.a.email.hbr.org/rest/head/mirrorPage/@Cc_7lkxsfMcI-
wgTzP5zqwKkVfnCNi4tZO6ipfi_p2PqTN8NTWQkfvVIznSG8yupg5
20tJsp3ymhp3FrwUmqPG7UrMiQgtsQAW20D-
x_gVL_11Yu.html?deliveryName=DM138446
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporting elements should include
+ Number of underrepresented groups employed to include gender
and race/ethnicity
include breakdown by department and occupation level
within the organization (to identity leadership positions)
+ Actions taken to increase recruitment, retention, and
advancement of women
+ Identified measures to track progress on recruitment,
retention, and advancement of women
+ Identify methods to hold organizational members accountable
for the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women
Options to encourage reporting could include:
+ Required: Reporting could be required of aviation
organizations based on certain minimum number of employees and/or those
organizations that operate under certain FAA regulations (121, 135,
139, 141, 147, etc.).
+ SMS: Include annual reporting as a required element of Safety
Management Systems (SMS). All organizations that are required to
implement SMS would be required to participate in annual reporting.
+ Recommended best practice: Using examples such as Boeing,
recommend that aviation organizations who wish to be competitive and
successful in creating a diverse workforce participate in publicly
available annual industry workforce reporting.

Annual Report to Congress
Create an annual industry diversity workforce report
summarizing the annual industry workforce reporting data and FAA Airmen
Certification Data.
Potential GAO activity, RFP for independent research, or
grant program to solicit report preparation.
Transparent, Periodic, Recurring Reporting
All data reporting must be periodic, public, and
recurring to determine trends.

Questions from Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson to Icema D. Gibbs, Vice
President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion, JetBlue Airways

Question 1. Ms. Gibbs, what concrete steps is JetBlue taking to
attempt to reduce unconscious bias and increase diversity in your
hiring process?
Answer. In 2021 we are actively hiring new crewmembers but in 2020
our talent acquisition team utilized the reduced hiring period to
create an in-house method of interviewing called BlueSelect, which aims
to reduce bias throughout the process. While continuing to focus on
culture add, we completely rebuilt this process to reduce unconscious
biases, and increase diversity in the process.
At JetBlue, we have used DDI's Targeted Selection interviewing
method for decades, and it includes the ``tell me about a time''
questions we all know and love. As we reimagined our diversity, equity
and inclusion strategy, we built BlueSelect to use some components of
that method, but completely rebuilt and tailored specifically to our
airline and culture. Candidates now go through a standardized process
that evaluates them fairly and objectively.
We have continued to implement feedback from our People team (Human
Resources) leaders and hiring managers to enhance the process.
Currently, the Blue Select model has been deployed across all
workgroups and departments to support hiring efforts.

Question 2. Ms. Gibbs, the Gateway College program you mention in
your testimony sounds like it has been quite successful thus far in
recruiting and augmenting opportunities for minorities at JetBlue. I
applaud you and JetBlue for your efforts! I am curious though, which
schools do you partner with? And how does the program work
administratively? How could a prospective student in my congressional
district in Dallas for example, enroll and participate if he or she is
interested?
Answer. JetBlue has led the industry in developing airline pathway
programs for aspiring pilots, and we've recently expanded our programs
to include pathways for those interested in careers as technicians. Our
Gateway programs have grown to include an entire suite of programs for
both internal and external candidates. These programs help us attract a
more diverse talent pool, make careers as pilots and technicians more
accessible and ensure we have highly qualified crewmembers to meet our
hiring needs.
Our newest pathway, Gateway College, is for crewmembers with little
or no flying experience who want to become JetBlue pilots through our
prescribed training and time-building program.
University Gateway is our longest standing program. It launched in
2008 for students at partner universities who follow a prescribed
education and time-building pathway to become JetBlue pilots.
We currently have a variety of university partners including:
Our newest school--Hampton University (based in Hampton,
VA), our first historically black college and university (HBCU)
partner;
Vaughn College (based in Queens, NY), a minority serving
institution (MSI), universities and colleges that enroll a significant
percentage of students from minority groups; and
InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico, a Hispanic
servicing institution (HSI), an accredited, degree-granting, public or
private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or more
total undergraduate Hispanic or Latinx full-time equivalent (FTE)
student enrollment.

Other University Gateway program school partners include Embry-
Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University-Prescott, University of North Dakota, Jacksonville
University, Auburn University, and Bridgewater State University. The
University Gateway Program continues to evolve and additional AABI-
accredited schools may be added over time.

Question 3. Ms. Gibbs, I see that JetBlue generally has outstanding
outreach, training, and gateway programs for interested high school,
vocational and college students, but have you considered beginning your
outreach earlier by reaching out to middle school and possibly even
elementary school children, particularly in minority-majority school
districts, to engage students in these age groups as well?
Answer. Through our corporate social responsibility efforts and the
work of the JetBlue Foundation, we work to reach students as early as
possible to spark an interest in science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM). The JetBlue Foundation encourages aviation-related
education and helps ignite interest in STEM programs, especially among
communities traditionally underrepresented in these areas including
girls and women and students of color. JetBlue's STEM education-focused
foundation furthers JetBlue's efforts to introduce students to the vast
array of careers available within aviation. Over the past eight years,
the JetBlue Foundation has built lasting relationships with more than
90 STEM and aviation-focused programs and provided grants and in-kind
support to help these programs take off.
A sampling of events, programming and partnerships geared towards
elementary and middle school students include:
The Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP)
Aviation Career Exploration (ACE) Academy introduces aviation careers
to students ages 14-18 from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented
in the industry. During these programs, students participate in hands-
on activities and have the opportunity to learn directly from JetBlue
pilots and other aviation professionals. Each summer the JetBlue
Foundation partners with OBAP to host ACE Academy programs in several
JetBlue cities including Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Orlando,
New York, San Juan and St. Thomas. View a video on this initiative here
[https://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2F
jetblue-7.wistia.com%2Fmedias%2F0w4fr0ecqu&esheet=52091260&newsitemid
=20190910006072&lan=en-US&anchor=here.&index=1&md5=852f2f139
abc91aa049fe93792548633].
Project Scientist STEM Expedition Academy is a summer
program for girls ages four to 12, in Southern California who have a
strong interest and aptitude for STEM. The vision of Project Scientist
is to transform the face of STEM by nurturing future scientists who
will lead the world in solving tomorrow's greatest challenges. With
support from the JetBlue Foundation, the STEM Expedition Summer Academy
has included behind-the-scenes looks at STEM-focused companies and
college programs as well as a visit to JetBlue's previous operation at
Long Beach Airport. View a video on this initiative here [https://
vimeo.com/363390480].
JetBlue's Fly Like A Girl programming provides
opportunities for young girls to learn first-hand about careers above
the wing, below the wing and behind-the-scenes at an airline directly
from women working in aviation and STEM. Attendees have the chance to
engage with JetBlue crewmembers while visiting education stations
including:
+ Above the Wing--An interactive experience on an A320 aircraft
with crewmembers from JetBlue's Flight Operations and Inflight teams.
+ Below the Wing--Exploration of the exterior and inner workings
of an A320 aircraft with crewmembers from the airline's Technical
Operations group.
+ Behind-the-Scenes--Opportunities to learn about what it takes
to create the JetBlue experience from check-in to onboard food,
beverage and entertainment offerings, as well as flight training.

Question from Hon. Nikema Williams to Icema D. Gibbs, Vice President of
Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,
JetBlue Airways

Question 1. Ms. Gibbs, in your testimony, you identified an
opportunity to increase diversity within the Officer and Director
ranks, where the racial composition has remained stagnant. You
mentioned that JetBlue has developed some new pathways to help
crewmembers grow into leadership roles.
Can you tell us more about those pathways?
Answer. Congresswoman, thank you for the question regarding
increasing pathways for our crewmembers and candidates to bolster
diversity in our leadership roles.
While we are a diverse organization overall, our frontline
crewmember population is quite diverse, that dwindles at each
progressive level. Our greatest opportunity for improvement is within
the Officer and Director ranks where the racial/ethnic composition has
remained stagnant.
Recognizing this, one way we are approaching this is through new
pathways to help more frontline crewmembers transition from operational
to corporate services roles. These more prescribed paths enable a more
diverse slate of candidates to be in the talent pool who ideally grow
into leadership roles. Moreover we are creating an inclusive
environment where all crewmembers can envision themselves in leadership
roles, because they see people that look like them and with shared
experiences already in these positions.

Diverse Slate Initiative
Historically for Director and above positions, about 50% of
candidates in the interview process have been from under-represented
backgrounds (women and racial/ethnic minorities). Since the launch of
our Diverse Slate Initiative that number has increased to 70%. The
initiative requires that at least one member of the interview panel is
from an under-represented background. Moreover the Diverse Slate
Initiative increases the amount of recruiting investments and sourcing
for candidates from under-represented backgrounds. While ensuring we
have a diverse slate of candidates for available positions, we will
always hire the most qualified candidate.
Finally we are holding ourselves accountable to meet our
commitments including:
Doubling race and ethnic minority representation at the
Officer and Director level, from 12.5 percent today to 25 percent by
the end of 2025
Increasing representation of women at the Officer and
Director level, from 32 percent today to 40 percent by the end of 2025.

Questions from Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson to Joel Webley, Chairman,
Board of Directors, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals

Question 1. Mr. Webley, I applaud you and the Organization of Black
Aerospace Professionals for the amazing work you have done over the
last four decades to encourage the advancement of minorities in all
aviation and aerospace careers.
How can individual students, for example, in my congressional
district in Dallas, become involved and participate? Is the process
easy to navigate logistically?
Answer. Getting involved with OBAP can happen in multiple ways.
Many of our students learn about OBAP programs by way of school visits
made to classrooms (in-person and virtually) across the country. By
visiting OBAP.org, students and parents can browse the full list of
programs available to students of different ages. Logistically we make
the processes as easy as possible within the limits of our resources
available. We've invested significantly in the past year to modernize
our IT systems with the goal of improving our ability to effectively
communicate with students as well as capture data to improve our
program effectiveness.
The biggest challenge we see in specific cities is finding a
volunteer who has the time and resources to support the needs of school
districts and students. We have been fortunate to find many volunteers
across the country who are willing and able to support programs in
their local areas, but there are still gaps.
For example, in 2019-2020 (Pre-covid) we reached over 12,000
students at over 20 schools in Houston, but in Dallas we had no school
visits. Again, additional funding to utilize paid staff to supplement
cities where we don't have a volunteer leader with the bandwidth to
support programming would allow our organization to reach significantly
more students.

Question 2. Mr. Webley, similar to my previous question, with
respect to individual schools, how can a school in my congressional
district join in partnership with OBAP?
Answer. The easiest way to start the conversation with an
individual school is to email us at info@obap.org. Our info inbox is
monitored daily and all messages are routed to the appropriate team
leader within the organization.

Question 3. How can members of this committee assist your
organization to further expand your program's outreach and engage even
more kids?
Answer. First--It takes funding for these types of programs to
thrive. We have many volunteers who want to participate, but without
enough funding for paid staff and IT systems to manage those volunteers
and programs, it significantly limits our reach. Renewable grants to
help sustain staff levels would be particularly helpful as it would
allow us to retain staff and have the confidence that those positions
are funded despite the funding volatility that we experience as non-
profit organizations. Put differently, as a leader of a non-profit
organization tied to the extremely volatile Aviation industry, I have
to be very careful about longer term staffing commitments because of
the nature of the fundraising cycle (a significant portion of our funds
comes from airlines). This equates to hesitancy to hire staff to
support needed expansion of programs.
Second--It would be very helpful to gain access to better data
across the industry with regard to diversity and inclusion. There are
very little resources available to help us measure the impact of our
programs outside of the data we capture internally. It would be helpful
to create a ``diversity dashboard'' whereby employers could upload
anonymized HR data for viewing by the general public and other
stakeholders to view. While some data is available from the Bureau of
Labor and Statistics, the information captured is not structured to be
used as a tool to aid in data based decision making. A system as I'm
describing would be extremely helpful to use as a standard benchmark
from which to measure the effectiveness of individual efforts by
industry employers, but avoid the understandable hesitancy to spotlight
organizations who are underperforming.
Third--According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the
government office that classifies occupations and gathers related data,
Air Transportation work are not considered to be STEM occupations
(https://www.bls.gov/oes/topics.htm#stem). Given the high level of
technology involved the Aerospace Transport Industry, my recommendation
to the committee would be to take a closer look at adding all of the
53-2000 SOC Occupations, as well as other aviation or aerospace
occupations (49-3011 Aircraft Maintenance Technicians) to the official
listing of what is considered to be a stem profession. Additionally
some aerospace related professions, such as Aircraft Dispatchers, are
not even included in the listing of BLS tracked occupations--it would
be extremely helpful to add an aerospace sub-category to ensure all of
the evolving occupations are included in the listings. This change
would be helpful in at least two ways: 1) the annual data regarding
Aviation/Aerospace occupations would be reported along side of all
other STEM occupations which would provide better information about the
efficacy of programs to increase participation in these occupations, 2)
the inclusion of these occupations would make it potentially easier to
gain access to STEM specific grant money, research dollars, and other
resources.

Question from Hon. Nikema Williams to Joel Webley, Chairman, Board of
Directors, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals

Question 1. Mr. Webley, in your testimony, you mentioned that
Congress can support diverse employment by encouraging employers in the
aviation industry to prioritize diversity in their recruitment and
hiring practices.
Are there specific practices that Congress should consider
encouraging, and what policy tools do you recommend we employ to
incentivize these practices?
Answer. First--It takes funding for these types of programs to
thrive. We have many volunteers who want to participate, but without
enough funding for paid staff and IT systems to manage those volunteers
and programs, it significantly limits our reach. Renewable grants to
help sustain staff levels would be particularly helpful as it would
allow us to retain staff and have the confidence that those positions
are funded despite the funding volatility that we experience as non-
profit organizations. Put differently, as a leader of a non-profit
organization tied to the extremely volatile Aviation industry, I have
to be very careful about longer term staffing commitments because of
the nature of the fundraising cycle (a significant portion of our funds
comes from airlines). This equates to hesitancy to hire staff to
support needed expansion of programs.
Second--It would be very helpful to gain access to better data
across the industry with regard to diversity and inclusion. There are
very little resources available to help us measure the impact of our
programs outside of the data we capture internally. It would be helpful
to create a ``diversity dashboard'' whereby employers could upload
anonymized HR data for viewing by the general public and other
stakeholders to view. While some data is available from the Bureau of
Labor and Statistics, the information captured is not structured to be
used as a tool to aid in data based decision making. A system as I'm
describing would be extremely helpful to use as a standard benchmark
from which to measure the effectiveness of individual efforts by
industry employers, but avoid the understandable hesitancy to spotlight
organizations who are underperforming.
Third--According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the
government office that classifies occupations and gathers related data,
Air Transportation work are not considered to be STEM occupations
(https://www.bls.gov/oes/topics.htm#stem). Given the high level of
technology involved the Aerospace Transport Industry, my recommendation
to the committee would be to take a closer look at adding all of the
53-2000 SOC Occupations, as well as other aviation or aerospace
occupations (49-3011 Aircraft Maintenance Technicians) to the official
listing of what is considered to be a stem profession. Additionally
some aerospace related professions, such as Aircraft Dispatchers, are
not even included in the listing of BLS tracked occupations--it would
be extremely helpful to add an aerospace sub-category to ensure all of
the evolving occupations are included in the listings. This change
would be helpful in at least two ways: 1) the annual data regarding
Aviation/Aerospace occupations would be reported along side of all
other STEM occupations which would provide better information about the
efficacy of programs to increase participation in these occupations, 2)
the inclusion of these occupations would make it potentially easier to
gain access to STEM specific grant money, research dollars, and other
resources.

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