DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock wants to include workforce development in the Federal Aviation Administration’s reauthorization bill to help curb shortages of pilots and mechanics.
Aviation is Georgia’s lifeblood. We have the world’s busiest airport, but Peachtree-DeKalb Airport is also in the Top 10 busiest smaller airports in the United States.
There is both a pilot and mechanic shortage in Georgia and Warnock told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that he thinks he has a plan to address that.
Warnock took a behind-the-scenes tour of PDK airport Thursday, meeting its people and its employees.
He learned a lot about the problems Georgia’s aviation industry is facing, including pilot and mechanic shortages.
He’s hoping to steer that industry to smooth air.
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After the tour, Elliot sat down with Warnock for an exclusive one-on-one interview.
“We have a workforce crisis in many of our industries including aviation, and it is a problem, but it is also an opportunity,” Warnock said.
Warnock has introduced a bill that he wants to be tacked on to the FAA Reauthorization Bill that would give money to schools and other institutions to promote aviation to more diverse communities.
Pilots can earn more than $100,000 a year, mechanics $70 an hour. But it’s not easy to get there.
Warnock thinks the bill can help.
Not far from PDK, Rep. Hank Johnson was at the Doraville MARTA station promoting federal dollars for MARTA’s electric bus fleet.
He said clean energy could bring thousands of jobs to Georgia, but he believes it needs federal help.
“This bus is proof of that. It’s part of the $19 million that MARTA is receiving from the Inflation Reduction Act to purchase electric buses and charging stations,” Johnson said.
Warnock believes encouraging young people to go into aviation benefits everyone across Georgia.
“It’s a win for the young people we’re trying to help, but it’s a win for all of us,” Warnock said.
Congress is considering the FAA Reauthorization Bill.
Elliot did attempt to contact Georgia Republicans for comment on this story, but so far, none have responded.
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