Aviation is a big part of our lives; being able to carry packages, bombs, or even people. Some cities are famous for their role, like Louisville, Kentucky, which serves as a massive home base for UPS. Being home to a base of one of the biggest package movers, Louisville draws a large amount of attention with Thunder Over Louisville, an opening for the Kentucky Derby Festival, which creates one of the biggest airshows, along with a record-breaking firework display that lights up the entire Ohio River skyline with vibrant, booming pyrotechnics.
Although we have a pathway for aviation at Prosser, Correy Jenkins, the teacher sponsor for the aviation club said, “Maddox McClune pretty much runs the show, he organizes the guest speakers and other things”, procuring guest speakers like a retired Air Traffic Controller, and an Energy management worker.
While some find aviation admiring, others see it as their career. Some people enjoy the technical side of it, some just like the fast moving planes. Aviation is currently in a period of major growth, having new pilots, new engineers, and a new kind of work flow. Before the shutdown of the MD11, UPS was in a hiring deficit, losing more pilots than gaining, with a massive wave also coming in due to the grounding of the plane.
Although people against aviation commonly mention the high fuel and carbon emissions, UPS has shown a large shift towards sustainability. In 2023, UPS consumed 586.8 million gallons of fuel, but 169 million of those gallons were alternative fuel sources, designed to lower carbon output. Although the company emitted 30.6 million tonnes of CO2 in 2023, 5 million tonnes lower than the 2021 emissions.
Regarding many peoples’ concerns over planes being dangerous, the safety record of cargo carries performs high above the perception of people. While the tragedy of Flight 2976 was a sad day for Louisville, it marks only the third crash in the entirety of the company’s history. For perspective, American Airlines has recorded eight fatal crashes since the start of the 21 century. Although, I compare these like it is a large number, eight fatal crashes in 26 years is still a very small amount, compared to how many fatal car crashes there are every single year.
With many different pathways into aviation, one of the many jobs you could become is Maintenance Technician, allowing you to work on any aircraft, not just your company’s aircraft. Another sector you could be hired into is Digital Aviation and Sustainability. It has opened up new roles in data analytics and alternative fuel to transition into sustainable fuel sources.
The field of aviation has evolved very much, from being one of the most dangerous forms of transportation from carrying only a few people to thousands of packages a day, from open topped planes to pressurized cabins, from wooden biplanes to Boeing. Modern planes are now eighty percent more efficient, with innovations like black boxes, making aircrash investigation an easier mystery to solve.
