JetBlue has announced an expansion of its Gateways career program that will provide a path for aviation maintenance students to join the airline.
Gateway University-Tech Ops will offer a defined track for external candidates to become JetBlue maintenance technicians, the carrier said. Accepted students will receive a conditional job offer and then have to complete required coursework and FAA certification with guidance from JetBlue’s Gateway team. Students will also be paired with a technician mentor for support through the course.
After meeting requirements, students will transition directly into an aircraft maintenance role at JetBlue.
The program is launching with two partners—Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens, New York, and Cape Cod Community College in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Both schools offer FAA-approved aviation maintenance programs and have existing connections to JetBlue’s operations and workforce.
“Aircraft maintenance technicians are integral to our industry, working days, nights, weekends, and holidays ensuring safety, reliability, and efficiency on every flight,” David Marcontell, vice president of technical operations at JetBlue, said in a statement. “JetBlue’s home in the Northeast sits at the center of our operations and many of our current technicians were trained at these schools. We know the skilled talent available well here and streamlining the path from early development to a full-time job at a major airline is as much a benefit to us as it is to the many candidates who are often dissuaded by the post-graduate employment uncertainty.”
JetBlue has already begun accepting students into the program this fall, officials said. The first graduates are expected to join the carrier’s technical operations team by next year.
The airline plans to eventually expand the program to additional schools in cities where JetBlue has maintenance bases and technical facilities.
