Cornerstone Aviation Academy Takes Aviation Workforce Program to National Stage

Kansas City-area nonprofit says new Department of Labor standards will support expansion of aviation apprenticeship pathways across 11 states

By Staff Writer

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — What began as an effort to introduce young people in the Kansas City area to careers in aviation is developing into a much larger workforce initiative.

Cornerstone Aviation Academy Inc., a nonprofit serving the Kansas City region, recently received National Guideline Standards through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship system. The organization says the framework will support its planned development of aviation workforce pathways across 11 states.

The milestone builds on Cornerstone’s existing Aviation Maintenance Registered Apprenticeship Program in Kansas, identified as RAP #2026-KS-141933.

For founder and executive director Mark D. Harper, the expansion is the result of a question the organization began asking after introducing students to aviation through camps, tours and career events.

“We could get young people excited about aviation, but then we had to ask what happened next,” Harper said. “It wasn’t enough for them to see an airplane, walk through a hangar or meet somebody working in the industry. We wanted to help build the next step.”

Cornerstone’s approach is designed to move participants through several stages, beginning with career exposure and continuing through education, pre-apprenticeship, Registered Apprenticeship and employment.

The organization has used FAA Aviation Career Education, or ACE, programming to introduce students to careers that many may not encounter in a traditional classroom.

Those experiences have included aviation career exploration, airport visits, hands-on STEM activities and opportunities to meet professionals working in and around aircraft.

Harper said one of the biggest misconceptions among young people is that aviation careers begin and end in the cockpit.

“A lot of students hear aviation and immediately think pilot,” he said. “Then they find out about aircraft maintenance, avionics, inspection, airport operations, technology and all the other people it takes to keep this industry moving.”

That early exposure is especially important, Harper said, for students who do not have family members or personal connections in the aviation industry.

Cornerstone has also worked with Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas, commonly known as JAG-K, to bring aviation career exploration to students already receiving career-readiness and workforce preparation services.

Through that relationship, students have been introduced to aviation employers, airports, technical occupations and work-based learning opportunities.

Harper said the goal is to make the pathway understandable.

“A young person may be interested in aviation, but that doesn’t mean they automatically know what school to attend, what credential they need, who is hiring or how apprenticeship works,” he said. “That is the gap we are trying to help close.”

Cornerstone’s Kansas Aviation Maintenance Registered Apprenticeship combines paid on-the-job learning with technical instruction, workplace mentoring and progressive skill development.

The model is intended to give participants an opportunity to earn while they learn and gain experience inside the industry rather than relying solely on classroom instruction.

The organization is also working to develop additional workforce pathways in areas such as avionics, non-destructive inspection and other technical aviation occupations.

The newly received National Guideline Standards give Cornerstone a framework for taking that workforce model beyond Kansas. The organization plans to work with employers, educational institutions and workforce organizations as it develops programs in additional states.

Harper said expansion will depend heavily on local partnerships.

“We are not interested in going into a community and pretending we know everything that community needs,” he said. “The employer has to be at the table. Education has to be at the table. Workforce organizations have to be at the table. Our job is to help connect those pieces and build something that works.”

The effort comes as aviation employers continue to focus on developing pipelines for skilled technical workers.

Cornerstone believes that work has to begin before an employer posts a job opening.

That means exposing students to aviation earlier, providing clearer routes into training and giving employers a role in developing future workers.

For Harper, the organization’s growth is encouraging, but he said the mission has not changed.

“The national piece is exciting,” he said. “But I still come back to the same thing. Can we take a young person who says, ‘I never knew this career existed,’ and help them reach the point where they can say, ‘I work in aviation’? If we can do that, we’ve accomplished something.”

As Cornerstone prepares for its next stage, the organization is also expanding its volunteer board and seeking additional support from individual donors, foundations, corporate partners, aviation employers and community organizations.

The nonprofit currently serves the Overland Park, Kansas, Junction City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, region, while developing partnerships outside the metropolitan area.

More information about Cornerstone Aviation Academy Inc. is available at www.csaa.life or by email at info@csaa.life.