Business

Higher Heights: Nonprofit Seeks To Ensure V.I. Youth Explore Aviation Careers

ST. CROIX -- Less than four percent of commercial pilots in the Unites States are Black and less than five percent are Hispanic, according to one JetBlue official, but there's an organized effort to change that statistic through aviation summer camps for minority youth across the nation – even here. Limited Access "The biggest hurdle to a career in aviation is limited access," Tom Lloyd told The Consortium Tuesday. Mr. Lloyd is JetBlue's System Operations Duty Director in Long Island City, NY. He traveled to St. Croix as a representative of the airline company, which has partnered with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) to host the annual Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy. It's an important mission that they've undertaken, Mr. Lloyd said, to break down barriers in the field. "We need aviation to be accessible to everybody; that's how we get the very best in our company and our field," he said. "To a place like this, aviation is a lif...