2025 Impact Report Homepage

In 2018, leaders at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) asked a hard question: Are we ready for the future?

Cargo operations were expanding. Passenger travel was strong. Employers across the airport campus were hiring. Growth was no longer theoretical—it was underway. But beneath the momentum was a quieter concern: Did the region have the workforce to sustain the growth? 

When CVG and its employer partners examined long-term demand projections, the data revealed an unexpected finding. Aircraft mechanics were on track to become one of the fastest-growing roles in the airport ecosystem, with projected demand increasing by nearly 80%. Yet there was no established pipeline to fill the need. No backfill strategy. No clear pathway to prepare workers for a role that would soon be essential to sustaining growth.

This challenge extended beyond CVG. Across the aviation industry, projections showed a need for more than 1,300 aircraft maintenance professionals over the next three years. What leaders saw was not an immediate crisis, but a gap that would quietly widen over time if left unaddressed.

Rather than wait, CVG chose to lead. Working alongside the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, CVG took a more intentional approach to addressing its future workforce needs. The Foundation brought employers and partners together around the shared challenge, helping move the conversation toward action.

That clarity opened the door to partnership.

CVG brought together key partners, Epic Flight Academy and FEAM Aero, to build a long-term solution. What emerged was not just a response to a single workforce gap, but a deliberate investment in the airport’s future talent ecosystem. In April 2023, Epic broke ground on a 32,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance training facility at CVG. The facility includes a hands-on shop and training space, classrooms, and on-campus resources designed to support sustained workforce development.

“As CVG continues to grow as a global cargo and logistics hub, building the Epic Flight Academy helps ensure we have the skilled workforce needed to support that growth and keep Kentucky connected to the global economy. The Kentucky Chamber Foundation helped us better understand our workforce needs early on and take a more direct role in building the pipeline that made the Epic Flight Academy at CVG possible.” — Gina Stough, Vice President of Human Resources, CVG

In April 2024, Epic Flight Academy launched its first aircraft maintenance cohort at CVG, offering a 19-month program that prepares trainees to become FAA-certified Airframe and Powerplant mechanics. The program emphasizes hands-on training, with trainees working directly on aircraft to meet FAA standards.

By December 2025, the first cohort graduated, with 17 newly credentialed mechanics stepping into a field with immediate demand. Today, the academy continues to scale, with 100 students training on site, and the next cohort beginning in February 2026.

For CVG, the impact reaches beyond a single program. The process reshaped how leaders approach workforce planning, shifting from reactive responses to proactive anticipation. What began as a data insight has become a model for demonstrating employer leadership, aligning partnerships, and intentionally building infrastructure to create opportunity before workforce challenges become constraints.

Behind outcomes like this are the convening and coordination that make employer-led solutions possible—work that the Kentucky Chamber Foundation continues to support across the Commonwealth.