Avionics News June 2018 - 44

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Millennials:

The next generation of avionics technicians

ccording to The Atlantic, millennials are those individuals born between 1982 and 2004. The oldest are
now 36 years old, and the youngest, at 14, have yet
to earn their driver's license. The oldest are straddling the dividing line between millennial and Generation Z. For most of my
tenure at Pennsylvania College of Technology, I've been working
with millennials. It seems that lately these young people have
been taking hits on social media; however, I cannot say I agree
with those memes.
As you read this, new technicians - millennials - are entering
the workforce, fresh out of avionics schools. You may be
interested in learning more about these young people, and what
they have and have not experienced.
Most likely, this year's graduates of avionics schools were
born sometime between 1996 and 1998. None would be old
enough to remember TWA Flight 800, the 747 crash, which
in part, acted as a catalyst to the Aging Aircraft Wiring Fault
Detection Survey. Wheeler, Twombly, Goebel, and Wysocki
published the results of this survey in 2007. The Federal Aviation
Administration formed the Aging Transport Systems Rulemaking
Advisory Committee in 1999. To this day, the results of the
survey, and the work of the advisory committee, changed how we
teach wiring inspection to avionics students. Although they are
too young to remember this accident, they are not too young to
experience the changes it brought.
These graduates are approximately the same age as highdefinition television, or HDTV. The Federal Communications
Commission approved the specifications for HDTV in 1996.
Some may not remember their home without a flat-screen
television. They have never seen or heard a dial-up modem or
5-inch floppy discs. They might not have seen 3-inch discs. They
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avionics news

june

2018

never watched "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." It's unlikely
they've ever used an answering machine. They have never seen a
laser disc.
In my classes, discussion of vacuum tubes and cathode
ray tubes has the flavor of a history lesson. They find it hard
to believe that aircraft are still flying with a CRT in the radar
indicator or in a flight display. One student, when seeing a
vacuum tube, asked if it was some kind of light bulb. They are
surprised to learn where tube technology still exists.
A few students will engage in film photography as a hobby,
but most will not buy a camera unless it's a GoPro or similar. The
cameras in phones these days are more than adequate for most
snapshots. Although they've seen MP3 players as a stand-alone
device, few are likely to use them since their phone does the job.
Forget about CD players and CDs; they think of them as a waste
of space.
The technicians starting their career this summer never used
Green Stamps, a slide rule or a rotary phone. It's unlikely they
were required to do a rope climb in school or listened to a
pocket-sized AM transistor radio, and they never owned a pet
rock. They've never seen a television station sign off.
These new millennial technicians are different, but perhaps not
in the ways us old folks are led to believe.
There is little evidence these young people have a sense
of entitlement. There is evidence they want to integrate their
professional work with their personal life. Those graduating now
came of age as the Great Recession was ending. The older ones,
already in the work force, have had to deal with less job security
and lower relative pay than both Generation Xers and baby
boomers. As a result, many millennials will work more than one
job, and they expect an employer to earn their loyalty. I should

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