DFW Aerospace Program Teaches Manufacturing Skills

Two dozen mostly young people, including three recent high-school graduates, are learning basic aircraft-manufacturing and assembly skills in Fort Worth as part of a government-funded, industry-backed training program.
 

 

The group is the first of three that will go through the six-week Aerospace Manufacturing Training Program, a joint project of the Texas Workforce Commission and the DFW Aerospace Cluster, a cooperative effort of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Bell Helicopter and Vought Aircraft Industries.

A second class in what officials hope will become an ongoing program will begin in mid-August. A third is planned for later this fall.

Most of the student slots for those classes have already been allocated to applicants, but the goal is to secure funding to continue the program, said Judy Bell, business development manager for Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County.

The pilot program now under way was funded as part of a $1 million state grant.