For Immediate Release
May 23, 2019

Contact:
Frederick Badlissi
(424) 646-5260

(Los Angeles, CA) Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the Los Angeles Unified School District have announced a new initiative to prepare students from schools across Los Angeles Unified for jobs in the aviation industry. This conversation between LAWA, Los Angeles Unified and the Mayor's office began last summer in an effort to prepare students for college and career. 

 

"Building a world-class airport requires a remarkable team of people, and finding those people takes strategic partnerships," said Sean Burton, President, Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. "This first-of-its-kind partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District connects us to the incredible pipeline of talent that we find in our local public schools, and will give students and adults the information and training they need to start a career at one of our airports."

 

“This initiative helps prepare our students for college and career and – in particular – for a broad set of opportunities in businesses which provide services above and below the wing in the airport – ranging from pilots to mechanics to transportation providers to the new transit link being built at the airport,” said Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner. “Together, we will help prepare our students for good paying jobs.”

 

This new LAX-focused workforce development initiative aims to create a pipeline for Los Angeles Unified students to enter jobs in the aviation, construction, hospitality and transportation industries. Efforts to place youth interns will be coordinated with Mayor Eric Garcetti's Hire LA’s Youth Program and directly with industry partners.

 

"The launch of the Aviation Career Pathways Partnership with Los Angeles Unified marks the beginning of something meaningful: an unprecedented opportunity to link hundreds of Los Angeles Unified students with careers in aviation at LAX and Van Nuys Airports," LAWA Chief Operating Officer Samson Mengistu said. "We need new workers to bring their skills, ideas and drive to our team, and there is no better place to find that talent than in our local Los Angeles public schools."

LAWA and Los Angeles Unified anticipate that this partnership will help a greater number of local workers find jobs at LAX, while also matching the region's growing workforce with anticipated demand by airport employers, including civil service jobs with the City of Los Angeles.

For more information, please contact LAWA Business, Jobs, and Social Responsibility Director Amber Meshack atbusinessandjobs@lawa.org, or Associate Superintendent Hilda Maldonado at hilda.maldonado@lausd.net.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

LAX, the fourth-busiest airport in the world and second busiest in the United States, was named a top-10 U.S. airport by SKYTRAX. LAX served more than 87.5 million passengers in 2018 and offers an average of 700 daily nonstop flights to 109 cities in the U.S. and 1,281 weekly nonstop flights to 93 markets in 47 countries on 69 commercial airlines. LAX ranks 10th in the world in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.4 million tons of air cargo. LAX handled 707,883 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2018.  

LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California, with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion, according to an economic study based on 2014 operations. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion; $966 million in state and local taxes; and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

 

LAX was honored as having the “Best Overall Customer Service Program” by Airports Council International-North America; named the “Best Airport for Breastfeeding Moms” by Mamava; selected for the Top 10 “Best of the U.S.’s Big Airports” (Wall Street Journal) and “Most Pet-Friendly Airports in the U.S. (Mental Floss); named the second-most improved airport in the U.S. by JD Power; received an “Innovation Award” from the L.A. Better Business Challenge for its Central Utility Plant; and named  a “Business Leader in Air Quality” by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

LAX is also the second-most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram, according to wego.com. LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.   

As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities.  Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.

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