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4-2170 FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY WORK PROJECTS ADUNISTRATION ~\\\\llestern Ur,; "'e,,.J' ~i:, ~ ~ l 1940. . For Release to Morning Papers Thursday, October 10, 1940 ' J ARY WPA ANNOUNCES SPECIAL TRAINING PROGRAM FOR AVIATION GROUND h--- _. / .EMEN A special WPA project for the training of aviation ground servicemen to meet the increased needs growing out of the rapid expansion of civil and military aviation was announced today b;v Howard O. Hunter, Acting Commissioner of Work Projects. The project was approved by the President yesterday and calls for the expenditure of $1,429,690 of WPA funds. A maximum of 5,750 persons from WPA rolls will be given from two to three months training at airports designated by the Civil Aeronautics Administra~ion. The project is sponsored by the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense and cosponsored by the CAA and the Office of Education. "This is an adjunct to the n1., tion-wide uroject for the vocational training of defense workers which W?A is now operating in conjunction with the Defense Commission and the Office of Education", M.r. Hunter explained. "It has been set up on an independent basis, howe7er, because of the pressing need for more trained workers in this specialized field. "Under the greatly expanded civil and military aviation program, and. with the prospect of the early launching of an enormous airp ort building program, the need for efficient ground crews and servicemen is a:pnarent. Workers in this field, while not required to be expert mechanics, must be familiar with airplanes, their fueling and checking, CAA traffic regulations, clerical and paper work incidental to airport operation, and the rea uirements of airport maintenance, "Qualified workers will be selected from WPA rolls to take the Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 4-2170 - 2 - training cours e . As in the case of those receiving vocational training f or defense industries, they wil l continue to rece ive their regl1lar WPA wages while undergoing training. I nstructors will be chosen by local educational authorities under the direction of the Office of Education. "We belie ve .that this p ro ~ram is an important link in the chain of defense activities which WPA has be en called upon to provide." rfi r. Ranter sa id that training probably wo ul d be given to grouus of from ten to fift ee n men at a time at some 100 a i rp0rts to be de si gnated by the CAA. Training probably wil l extend over a period of from two to three months for each gro up, after which it is expe ct ed they will be priva tely empl oyed. Selection of those to receive training will be t he r e sponsi bi lity of local WPA authorities , he said, with such qua li t ies as a clay,itabili ty , education a nd previous experience being given co nsideration . Technical aspects of the training p rogram are being worked out by the CAJ:1., Mr. Hunter continued. IJ.'he Office of Education, meanwhile, is preparing a. text bo ok and cours e of s tudy patterned somawhat after t hose use d succe ssfully by large oil comuanies in t he trainins of service st a tion att endants. The t echnical requirements, however, it was po inted out, are considerably above those demande d of service stati on em~loyees. Safety of air t ravel will be the pre dominant note throughout the training :o rogram. A pr eliminary step in t he program will be the t raining of an initial group of instructors, Mr. Hunter explained. As s oon as a standard course of study has been worked out , a carefully chosen nucleus of the teaching force, previously selected from various pa rts of the country, will be brought to Washington. Gene rally, he said , thes e will be men with previous airport experience. In Washington they will be given a brief intens ~ve course in the training t e chni oue and then returned to their respective cornmu~iil ittif~ ~Ywhere they, in turn, may trai ~ri ljjtMier~mteachers or NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY - 3 - 4-2170 conduct regular training courses themselves. Approximately 100 teachers will be reouired for the program, he said. Mr. Hunter said the program probably would be placed in operation first somewhere in the vicinity of Washington in order that officials might observe it during the formative stage, Later it will be expanded to other centers of aviation activity as rapidly as instructors are ava ilable and sites are designated by the CAA. He anticipates, he added, that th8 program will be in full operation within the next sixty days. 000000000 Digitized by Original from NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
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