(Los Angeles) Nearly 1,000 local high school students met with representatives of almost three dozen aviation-related companies and agencies on Wednesday morning while touring commercial aircraft and watching equipment demonstrations at Los Angeles International Airport’s 7th Annual LAX Aviation Career Day.
The annual event, which is held on the airfield ramp at the Flight Path Museum, began in 2016 but was held virtually in 2020 and 2021 before returning in-person on Wednesday.
“At a time when the aviation industry is looking for the next generation of employees to fill thousands of critical roles, it is wonderful to help engage so many students with the incredible career opportunities that aviation offers,” said Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). “While careers such as airline pilots, flight attendants and mechanics are well known, aviation offers so many different vocations, including those that deal with science and technology, engineering, architecture, construction and numerous services.”
“Many of the careers that students are learning about today are related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs, and we encourage everyone who is interested in these disciplines to give aviation a look,” said Terri Mestas, Chief Development Officer, LAWA. “These careers offer students an opportunity to help shape the future of airports, airlines and associated industries.”
In addition to hearing from Erbacci and Mestas during an opening ceremony, students enjoyed a panel discussion featuring airline pilots.
Four commercial aircraft, including an American Airlines Boeing 787, Boeing 757s from Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, and an Airbus A320 from JetBlue Airways, were open for tours. Representatives of those carriers and Southwest Airlines were on hand to discuss a variety of careers while students could also find out more about jobs with federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
A number of aviation schools, local community colleges and California State University Los Angeles were at the event to talk to students about opportunities to further their education. Several construction firms that are involved in projects at LAX also spoke to students about their roles at the airport.
The Los Angeles Airport Police, Los Angeles Fire Department and California Highway Patrol showed off a variety of equipment and spoke to students about the role of first-responders in aviation.
Students attended from 12 Los Angeles Unified School District schools, including Bravo Medical Magnet, Elizabeth Learning Center, Foshay Learning Center, Garfield High School, Grant High School, Hamilton High School, Huntington Park High School, Kennedy High School, Reseda High School, San Fernando High School, RFK School for the Visual Arts and Humanities, and Westchester High School.
Other nearby participating schools included Culver City, DaVinci, El Segundo, Hawthorne and Inglewood high schools.
