Amtran plans to participate in a new statewide apprentice program for transit mechanics.

The two-year program will consist of classroom work for three non-consecutive weeks at Penn College, Williamsport; virtual classes at the respective transit agencies; and on-the-job training that includes agency mentorship, according to Amtran CEO Josh Baker.

Two current service workers at Amtran who now fuel buses, check fluid levels and clean will begin the program in July — with a total of 12 to 15 agencies likewise taking part.

A total of 16 to 20 spots are available in the program statewide for the first year, Baker said.

Talk about starting the program began about three years ago at a U.S. Department of Transportation Transit Workforce Center conference involving both management and union participants, according to Baker.

The Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association’s PennTRAIN, the association’s training component, chaired by Baker, has led the effort to develop the program, with much being done by a small committee comprising transit agency CEOs and maintenance directors, according to Baker.

Transit attorney Jill Nagy of Summers Nagy has been “a huge resource,” Baker said.

Penn College has secured funding that will help pay for language services, childcare and transportation, along with tuition costs that the individual transit agencies will also help pay, according to Baker.

The Amtran apprentices will remain employees of the organization and will continue to receive their service worker wages.

Those will be paid out of Amtran’s operational budget.

The apprenticeships comprise a total of 2,000 hours of class time and on-the-job training.

It’s beneficial that the two service workers have already been able to learn the agency’s “culture” before beginning their apprenticeships, Baker said.

There will be jobs for both when their apprenticeship ends, he said.

“We want to keep them as long-term employees,” he stated, noting that there is a “glaring need” for transit mechanics statewide.

While Amtran is currently at full staff, it often loses mechanics due to schedules that include second shift and Saturday work and wages that can’t rival what car dealerships pay, Baker said.

Amtran’s Amalgamated Transit Union local supports the program “100 percent,” Baker said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.