Earning less than $35K and interested in aviation? This Miami training program can help
When he was still a kid, Florida Memorial University graduate Barrington Irving met a Black man who was wearing a fancy watch, a sharp blazer and slacks. When Irving asked what his job was, the man said he was a pilot. The nice clothes were his uniform.
Irving immediately knew that he wanted to be a pilot when he grew up.
With a tenacity for learning, Irving found success in the aviation industry. He not only became a pilot as an adult but also set two records in 2007 when he became both the youngest person and the first Black pilot to fly solo around the world. In 2023, he started a technical training school in Opa-locka to help prepare young people for careers in aviation.
At an event Tuesday, United Way Miami announced a partnership with his Barrington Irving Technical Training School at the Opa-locka Executive Airport. The career training program offers 12- to 16-week courses and targets people of color, female heads of household, veterans, youth ages 18 to 24, and teens aging out of foster care.
READ MORE: United Way starts $2.5 million job training effort for low-income Miami-Dade residents
United Way CEO Symeria Hudson believes the partnership will help participants access one of the 275,000 aviation jobs in Miami. Qualified applicants must either earn less than $35,000 or be unemployed. Upon completing the program, graduates can expect to work full-time within the aviation industry at an average hourly rate of $20, with opportunities for overtime and growth.
“We’ve always been seen as the go-to resource for people working hard in the community or who can’t make ends meet,” Hudson said. “To be able to pull folks from the community into this will put them on a path to even more professional development.”
In a humid hangar at the airport, Irving talked about his own career journey and how he hoped to train others for a similar path in aviation.
“There are a massive amount of individuals in South Florida that ask themselves how they will survive and may not have the skills or training,” Irving said. “This partnership with United Way will allow us to train more individuals within the community.”
Through the initiative, participants complete 160 total training hours at Opa-locka Executive Airport. Program participants have space to practice working on mechanical equipment and work with flight simulators. An emphasis is placed on developing soft skills, such as professionalism, outside of core aviation training. The training will also prepare participants who decide to pursue flight training.
The first class of graduates completed the program in December, and all 15 graduates now have jobs in the aviation industry, ranging from mechanic to air traffic controller.
Hollywood resident Jevon Jackson, 23, is a graduate of the program and believes it changed the trajectory of his life. Before the aviation training, he was in a disciplinary boot camp.
“Getting into the BITTS program completely changed my life around,” he said. “I see myself taking advantage of all the opportunities that come to my mind. I want to put that into my family, my generation and my future kids.”
As the graduates of the program and members of the current cohort walked around the facility Tuesday with smiles on their faces, it was clear that the future of aviation in South Florida will look more diverse.
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