Students received hands-on experience at Sawyer Internaional Airport
SAWYER -- High school students got a dose of the real world Tuesday and a hands-on look at the lives of aircraft mechanics at Sawyer International Airport.
American Eagle at Sawyer International Airport employs about 180 aircraft mechanics, and they're trying to increase that number even more.
With the help of Michigan Works, North Star Academy students visited the airport hangar to better understand careers in aircraft maintenance.
"We want to encourage our young people to stay, and many, many of our young people want to stay in the U.P. So we have these great family-sustaining jobs here, and I don't see any reason not to involve our young people and expose them to our business," said Maintenance Director Steve Rodgers.
Students watched a recruiting video, then they went to the hangar to see mechanics work on the planes.
"Before this, I never really got to take a look at what is going on. I kind of just heard about it. So actually seeing, seeing is believing, I guess. You get to actually see what's going on, and it's kind of cool, and I should probably do this," said North Star student Tyler Koepp.
The program started more than five years ago when the airline was in desperate need of mechanics.
Since they've started the yearly trips, the Northern Michigan University Aviation Maintenance program received a boost in interested students. They went from having a handful of students to now almost forty.
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