The Nanaimo Airport provided Indigenous youths with an up-close look not only of airplanes, but also the aviation industry.
The airport hosted its first Give Them Wings event on Aug. 13, inviting Indigenous families to YCD.
Keith Granbois, airport chief financial officer and vice-president of business development, told the News Bulletin attendees were drawn to the flight simulator, but aviation is about more than what happens in the skies.
"A big thing of this was not necessarily pushing pilots," said Granbois. "It's pushing the trades, pushing aircraft maintenance engineers, structural people, all of that stuff … part of the issue that is facing aviation is there's a massive shortage of airport maintenance people and when you hear 'aviation,' people just instantly think, 'pilot.'"
Companies need people to work on aircraft, he said, and if they can't find workers, they contract them in.
“If there's not enough maintenance people, it doesn't really matter how many pilots there are, because planes aren't getting off the ground," he said. "They all have to do safety checks, it's a big job. It takes a good number of support staff to get the plane up into the air in a safe and reliable manner."
Scholarships are also available to assist those wishing to get into the industry, with both Nanaimo Airport and the B.C. Aviation Council assisting high school and university students pursue educational opportunities in the field.
Previous Give Them Wings events have been held at other airports in B.C., but the Aug. 13 event was the first held at YCD.
In addition to the flight simulator, the event featured a wind tunnel, expert speakers and an airport tour. About 30 people from First Nations from the Malahat to Snaw-Naw-As attended.
Information on YCD's scholarship can be found at www.ycd.ca/community/scholarships-bursary.
