Page 11 - World Trade Center - 2024

baggage handling and TSA screening.”
Passenger service from Wilmington
Airport (ILG) was until recently provided
only by budget carrier Avelo Airlines.
But starting in October 2024, American
Airlines also added service from ILG.
As for Avelo, flying from Wilmington
was a winning proposition, said Trevor
Yealy, the airline’s head of commercial. “Our
three core tenets are providing affordable,
convenient and reliable air-travel options
to our customers,” he said. “So we generally
target secondary airports of major metro
areas for our bases.”
Avelo’s first base was Burbank, near Los
Angeles, followed by New Haven, Connect-
icut, near New York. “As we continued to
grow, one of the most attractive opportu-
nities was Wilmington,” Yealy said. “We saw
it as a great alternative to more congested
airports for people in Delaware, Pennsyl-
vania, New Jersey and Maryland.”
At the time of the interview, Avelo had
only one aircraft based at ILG, but was
planning to add a second in November. “In
December, we will operate a total of 110
departures out of ILG, which is a little more
than three a day,” Yealy said. Many of Avelo’s
destinations are in Florida, but others include
major hubs like Atlanta and Charlotte.
“While our business isn’t predicated on
business travel, we do think that our service
might be attractive to small businesses
who are trying to limit their travel costs,”
Yealy said.
As for Avelo’s experience doing business
in Delaware, it has been positive through-
out. “We have phenomenal partners here,”
Yealy said. “We have worked with the DRBA
for quite some time, and we have worked
closely with state government officials.
U.S. Senator Carper’s office has been very
supportive of us as well.”
ILG also hosts a location of FlightSafety
COURTESY OF AVELO
DEL AWARE AVIATION
Delaware Educates
Future Pilots, Aviation Mechanics
The future of Delaware’s
aviation industry depends
on finding the right talent to
fill open positions. Luckily,
Delaware’s colleges and
universities have established
successful, reputable programs
to educate the next generation
of pilots and aviation workers.
Delaware State University
(DSU) is focused on educating
pilots. “Currently, we have
100% placement for our
professional pilots within 12
months of graduation,” said
Capt. C.J. Charlton, director
of DSU’s aviation program and
a graduate himself. “We own
26 airplanes and we have the
largest flight-training program
of all HBCUs [Historically Black
Colleges or Universities]. We
graduate more pilots annually
than all of them combined.”
A hallmark of DSU’s program is
its partnerships with airlines
such as United, Alaska
Airlines, Endeavor Air, as well
as the Coast Guard and Army.
Those partnerships ensure
a successful pipeline from a
degree to a career.
“We also have a management
side of the house,” Charlton
said. “Starting this year, I have
begun to completely retool
that program so students
can graduate with four
certifications. One would be
a flight dispatcher, another
would be a flight training
instructor. Students can also
earn a certification to become
a licensed drone operator or
an airport manager. We have
picked four specific outcomes
that are reflective of the needs
of the industry.”
DSU is also working on setting
up a state-of-the-art airport
laboratory that would enable
testing and research into the
next generation of aviation.
Meanwhile, Delaware Technical
Community College (pictured
below) focuses on educating
mechanics through its aviation
maintenance technology
program. “It is important
to know that our program
is approved by the Federal
Aviation Administration,”
said Bobbi Barends, campus
director for Delaware Tech’s
location in Georgetown, also
known as the Owens Campus.
The program was launched
in response to a need for
talent expressed by ALOFT
AeroArchitects, then called
PATS Aircraft Systems.
Initially, Delaware Tech
offered only a certificate
program focused on airframe
maintenance. “But we learned
from our advisory board of
employers that they need
individuals who have the full
toolbox of skills, including not
just airframe maintenance
but also powerplant,” Barends
said. “So we said, let us provide
our students options — they
can do a general, airframe or
powerplant certificate or they
can put it all together for an
associate degree.”
e degree.”
Each year, a cohort of 24
students joins Delaware Tech
and graduates within 18 to
22 months. “We feel really
fortunate because our students
have 100% employment after
graduation,” said Barends.
The success of Delaware Tech’s
program is due not just to its
employer partners, but also to
the support from local, state
and federal government, she
said. “Students travel here
from all over the state to work
on one of our nine airplanes.”
Arguably the best testament
to Delaware Tech’s success are
its graduates. Lilliah Fields
earned her associate degree
in 2024. In the program, “I
got exposed to things I never
thought I would be exposed
to,” Fields said. “They had real-
life projects and activities that
prepared me for my future.”
The instructors, all of whom
were veteran aviation
mechanics, emphasized the
importance of being precise
and exact in your work, she
said. “With that, I knew this job
held a big responsibility. You
will have people’s family and
friends traveling on this plane
that you are working on.”
Fields already has a job lined
up at Piedmont Airlines, a
local affiliate of American
Airlines. “I would not have
known about Piedmont
without Delaware Tech,”
she said. «
PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOSEPH WAGNER / DTCC