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Arlington, Va. -- Congress must act to head off a shortage of qualified aerospace workers, a growing threat to America’s economic and national security, Aerospace Industries Association officials said Wednesday. To address the problem, AIA strongly supports a bill recently introduced by Rep. Vernon Ehlers of Michigan, which would create the Interagency Aerospace Revitalization Task Force, AIA President and CEO John Douglass said. “As a nation and industry we simply cannot ignore the looming crisis in our workforce,’’ Douglass said. “It is imperative that Congress recognize the threat and move decisively to support private-sector efforts to train future generations of aerospace workers.’’ The bill (HR 5388) comes in response to trends showing the sector’s workforce is aging and too few young people are choosing aerospace careers. Bill language notes that the aerospace industry generates a significant percentage of the country’s gross domestic product, leads the economy in gross exports and executes the nation’s military modernization programs. The legislation also reflects the fact that aerospace total employment recently hit its lowest point in 50 years as well as the reality that almost 30 percent of the workforce will be eligible for retirement by 2008. “To ensure the security of high-skilled jobs and the global competitiveness of the domestic aerospace industry,’’ one of the key findings of the bill said, “the United States requires coordinated federal government policies to sustain and expand the science, mathematics, engineering, and manufacturing workforce.’’ The task force would consist of nine members, including representatives from the Commerce, Defense, Education, Transportation and Energy departments. Also included are NASA, the National Science Foundation, the assistant labor secretary for Employment and Training and a member to be named by President Bush. It would be charged with crafting a national strategy for aerospace workforce development to include education, training policies and other industry-led partnerships. --AIA--
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Contact: Matt Grimison, AIA
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