12:00a.m. 3rd September 2008

| By Bill Hoffman

The aviation industry is targeting schools across Queensland to attract students to a sector that is in the grip of a skills crisis.

Already 80 schools have accepted invitations for either their principal or guidance officer to attend the Regional Aviation Association of Australia conference at Coolum Hyatt on September 19, to hear about job and training opportunities.

Every high school in the state has been invited to the association’s Aviation Careers and Skills Forum, underlying the desperate need to maintain the flow of new people into the industry.

Aviation Sunshine Coast Inc president Peter Renton said yesterday that there was a perception t you needed to be a rocket scientist to work in aviation.

Mr Renton said the Australian industry had a reputation for producing good people through its training processes.

Many flowed out of Australia into high-paying jobs overseas, leaving local businesses with a skills shortage that was restricting business growth.

There were fewer than 500 engineers under 30 years of age in the industry in Australia, compared with 750 in the year 2000.

The RAAA conference, hosted by Aeromil’s Steve Padget, has attracted industry players from across the globe.

It will be the largest gathering of national and international industry stakeholders ever held in regional Australia.

Last night members of the Coast’s aviation community gathered at Sunshine Coast Airport to discuss the industry’s direction.

Mr Renton, who steps down this week as operations manager of the Caloundra-based Queensland Institute of Aviation Engineering, will also hand over presidency of Aviation Sunshine Coast Inc to Des Stagg, chief pilot director of Sunshine Aviation.

Mr Renton said there were 80 businesses involved in the industry on the Coast, many of them crying out for skilled workers.

“There are niche opportunities in aviation for local businesses,” said Mr Renton, who set up the Singapore Flying College on the Sunshine Coast.

He said the growth in passenger numbers at the Coast airport, from 110,000 in 2001 to just under one million last year, provided opportunities and challenges.