April 2, 2025

A cross-state partnership between Airbus Helicopters Inc., Flight Works Alabama and East Mississippi Community College is providing area residents with the opportunity to land paid apprenticeships at Airbus.

Selected applicants will undergo a 10-week training program provided by EMCC in Aviation Manufacturing Technology at The Communiversity. The students will earn a certificate from EMCC, as well as multiple industry-recognized certificates in the following categories: Precision Measuring Instruments, Tools@Height, Mechanical and Electronic Torque, Multimeter, Precision Electrical Termination, and Structural Sheetmetal Assembly.

The training program, FlightPath9, is designed to prepare individuals for work at the Airbus facility in Columbus. Officials with Flight Works Alabama accepted applications at The Communiversity on April 1, and will be on hand again today, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. A link to the application, which must be dropped off in person, is availble here: https://bit.ly/42gjS7l 

“The training is totally free for students accepted into the program,” Flight Works Alabama consultant Kellie Andrews said. “They will also receive a stipend of $100 a day for those days they are in class. Flight Works Alabama has contracted with local resident Myranda Lindsay as a class success coach to make sure everyone completes the program.”

EMCC already provides training in Avionics Cabling, which teaches students the basics of building wiring harnesses to aviation specifications, and in Composites Manufacturing Assembly, which entails working with materials used in constructing the outer hull of aircraft.

EMCC will incorporate the college’s training in Avionics Cabling into the new program, which will be supplemented with modules provided through FlightPath9, which is a pre-employment training program that was created by Flight Works Alabama in 2019 to prepare individuals for employment at Airbus’ U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama, where the company’s assembly site for its commercial airplanes division is located.

“We are using the curriculum that had been put into place by Flight Works Alabama and the training kits that had been designed for the FlightWorks9 program,” EMCC Workforce Business Outreach Training Manger Carlton (Ray) Hollis said. “Basically, we are bringing FlightPath9 into Mississippi through the partnership with Flight Works Alabama.”

Training will take place in EMCC’s Avionics Cabling lab, as well as at the Mississippi Advanced Composites Training Center, which is also located at The Communiversity and is the result of a partnership between EMCC and Mississippi State University’s Advanced Composites Institute.

Ten applicants will be selected for the initial training program, which will take place from June 16 to Aug. 21. A graduation ceremony for the students who complete the training will take place at The Communiversity on Friday, Aug. 22.

“On that following Monday, Aug. 25, the students will begin their pre-employment training at Airbus Helicopters with full benefits, 401K and vacation accrual,” Andrews said. “Their lives will change that day.”

The apprenticeships will be patterned after those in Airbus’ Mobile facility where the apprentices serve alongside mentors and are considered as trainees for a period of 14 months to 16 months.

“We give them purple shirts in Mobile, so they are called the purple shirters,” Andrews said. “When you see the purple shirts, you know those are people who are still in training.”

Once the apprentices complete the training, they are considered regular employees and are allowed to work without direct supervision.

“We are happy to partner with Flight Works Alabama and Airbus on this program,” EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks said. “Our mission is to serve as a conduit to meet the needs of both our communities and our local industries. This program is a great example of how that can be achieved. One of the great aspects of this particular program is the paid apprenticeships offered by Airbus. Apprenticeships instill valuable skillsets needed by industries while providing employees the ability to earn while they learn.”

EMCC’s involvement was funded through a grant by AccelerateMS. Hollis said the program will provide EMCC with new training opportunities.

“In the future, we will be able to offer these certificates and training to all industries within our region and to those industries that are considering locating to the area,” Hollis said.

All the certifications earned in the training are approved by the National Coalition of Certification Centers and are recognized nationwide. In addition, students will receive OSHA 10 certification in General Industry, or Manufacturing, a safety course required of new employees by many industries.

EMCC’s Workforce Services Division offers other training to meet specific industry needs. Industries that EMCC works with include PACCAR, Yokohama, Terberg Taylor Americas and International Paper, to name a few.

“While we offer more than 50 for-credit career technical programs of study, we also work closely with industry to provide noncredit pre-employment training, as well as employee training in a wide variety of areas,” EMCC Vice President of Career Technical and Workforce Education Dr. Michael Busby said. “We also work with industries to create training modules to meet their specific needs.”

Industries interested in exploring training options at EMCC can email Hollis at chollis@eastms.edu or call him at 662.243.7482.