City Council member asks aviation authority to fund training center for high-demand jobs (Courtesy of the Florida Times-Union) — Jacksonville City Council member Nick Howland is pitching the Jacksonville Aviation Authority on bankrolling an aviation training center that would prepare people to work as aircraft maintenance technicians and air traffic controllers.
Howland says the aviation authority, which manages Jacksonville International Airport and three other airports, can pull about $29 million from its roughly $300 million cash balance to get the concept off the ground and help Florida State College at Jacksonville prepare 200 students a year for high-demand jobs that earn about $70,000.
The aviation authority has an “unsurpassed opportunity” to be a leader in workforce development, support higher education and bolster the aviation industry in Jacksonville, Howland said in a presentation during it board meeting this week.
But aviation authority officials say the current level of cash reserves is needed because the agency has about $2 billion of airport system construction and upgrades on its plate through 2035.
There also is a question of whether federal regulations would even allow the aviation authority to put its money into the proposed training center without jeopardizing the authority’s ability to get grants that are the lifeblood of airports.
Aviation authority spokesman Michael Stewart said the agency strives to be a good community partner “but there are certain things we can do and we can’t do” based on the FAA limitations.
Howland asked the authority to request an opinion from FAA.
Howland proposes expanding FSCJ aviation course offerings
He said he’s been in talks with Florida State College at Jacksonville about what the college could do to expand its aviation courses. FSCJ already provides such courses for 60 graduates a year and could ramp up by another 200 students if it can create a training center in a hangar at Cecil Airport.
“I have no doubt there are 200 Duval County students and active-duty military members ready to transition to the private community that could take advantage of vocations that are in high demand for decades to come,” Howland said.
Board member Bill Gulliford said if Howland wants to secure funding for a training center, it would be better for him to go to the airlines which employ aircraft maintenance technicians or the federal government that hires air traffic controllers.
“The authority does not employ either,” Gulliford said.
He said his responsibility is to ensure the aviation authority runs the airports and does all it can to give passengers the best service and travel experience possible.
“We think we do a good job of that, reflected by the recognition our airport receives,” Gulliford said. “So the fundamental question is how does an expenditure of this nature bring benefit to the authority, and I’m grappling to find a positive answer to that question.”
Using aviation authority money to raise power lines not allowed
During City Council’s budget hearings in August, Howland said he was interested in seeing if the authority could put some of its funding into a workforce development with FSCJ and also pay part of the cost for raising high-voltage power lines that span the St. Johns River.
JaxPort wants the higher power lines so there’s more room for big cargo container ships to reach the Blount Island terminal.
The city’s Office of General Counsel said in a Sept. 20 memo that because of FAA restrictions attached to federal grants for the airport, the aviation authority can only use its revenue for facilities and operations that are “directly related to its core purpose of providing air transportation of passengers and property.”
“However, before embarking on such a program, we would recommend requesting an opinion from FAA to confirm that this is an appropriate expenditure,” the memo says.
Howland told the authority’s board that FAA believes the aviation authority could spend money on a vocational program on airport property training people for jobs in airport operations. He said he talked with an FAA administrator in the agency’s Office of Government and Industry Affairs who told him his proposal for a training center would “likely be permissible” for such funding.
“In fact, it’s already done at airports around the country,” Howland said.
But the FAA said in response to a Times-Union question the agency did not commit to a training center.
“The FAA provided Councilman Howland with general information about revenue-use requirements and did not make any commitments to the city or airport on future plans for a training facility,” the agency said in a statement.
The aviation authority board did not take any immediate action on Howland’s request and will bring it up for more discussion at a future meeting.
While Gulliford was skeptical, another board member said he supports Howland’s plan.
Aviation Authority board member Andy Hofheimer wrote in an email to Howland that having fully trained FAA-certified aviation mechanics is vital to airports. “Count me in for energetic support,” Hofheimer wrote.