Aircraft maintenance has been an essential service throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with planes delivering critical supplies across the world.

Officials from the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics will host a virtual open house Saturday to encourage potential students to consider it as a career.

“May 30 will be an all-new experience for all of us, as we’ve never attempted a virtual open house before,” said Suzanne Markle, president and CEO of the nonprofit PIA. “But we believe it it’s imperative to continue for both PIA and our employers that we deliver critical information about career demand to potential students.”

Rather than the typical setup, where prospective students would meet with air industry employers, Saturday’s virtual open house will feature PIA faculty offering virtual walk-through tours of their facilities, along with virtual skills demonstrations.

Prior to the covid quarantine, employers across diverse industries invested in PIA open house events for the opportunity to have first-hand conversations with prospective new workforce, Markle said.

Many factors, including an aging aviation maintenance workforce and shortage of trained air-frame and power plant technicians, have employers investing in recruiting serious candidates as early as pre-enrollment, she said.

“Employers have historically traveled to PIA to begin the recruiting process as early as first semester and even partnering to raise career awareness prior to enrollment which is indicative of high demand,” said Markle.

The virtual open house will be at 10 a.m. for the main Pittsburgh campus. Additional events will also take place at the school’s campuses in Hagerstown, Md. (11:30 a.m.), Youngstown in Ohio (1 p.m.) and Myrtle Beach, S.C. (2:30 p.m.).

For more, or to RSVP for one of the events, see PIA.edu.

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