When Phil Washington was a child, he was drawn to the infrastructure industry. 

However, as a young Black man raised in public housing by a single mother, he struggled to find a way in.

Today, Washington is the CEO of Denver International Airport, and he has made it his mission to provide a pathway for underrepresented communities to achieve a career in aviation.

“The inspiration is my own life. When I asked where I could get a job, I was either told I didn’t have the training or I was too late,” Washington said. “We want to change that for young people that desire to come into this industry and who may not know what to do or how to do it.”

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Washington is leading the development of the Center of Excellence and Equity in Aviation within the airport — a $40 million project scheduled to break ground this summer out of level four in the airport’s Hotel and Transit Center.

The center will train students for careers in aviation free of charge, targeting youth from low-income communities and communities of color, as well as airport employees who work in nonaviation industries like retail, food service and sanitation. Once completed, it will be the first and only aviation center of excellence with an emphasis on equity.

Washington hopes the center will make Denver International Airport a worldwide hub for aviation talent, where airlines and airports around the world go to recruit employees.

“The need is there to put together and develop a pipeline of aviation talent by building a future skilled workforce,” Washington said. “It’s the idea that we want young people — especially young people in opportunity communities — to know that the transportation industry is wide open for them to walk into and have a career earning good money.”

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Washington said the aviation industry is suffering from extreme shortages of pilots, aircraft mechanics and maintenance workers nationwide. At the same time, airlines including United, Southwest and Frontier have established hubs at the Denver airport, intending to invest heavily in Denver and in the Rocky Mountain region in the coming years.

In addition to training aviation workers, Washington said the center will be a research center where new, innovative industry approaches can be developed and tested at the airport. He hopes to have international aviation experts come to the center to give lectures.

The center will expand on the airport’s youth outreach programs, including its elementary school workshops, the DEN Academy for middle and high school students and the airport’s paid internships for high school and college students, said Andrea Albo, deputy chief of staff for the airport.

After building on the airport’s efforts to expose students to careers in aviation, the center will provide additional training programs and opportunities like apprenticeships, mentoring and job shadowing.

DIA phase three

Rendering of Denver International Airport’s Jeppesen Terminal after completion of the proposed “completion phase,” which is estimated to cost …

“All these things give students that hands-on experience,” Albo said. “Ultimately, what we want to see is students entering the workforce.”

The center will also host training for every staff level. This will include a 40-person, 12-month leadership academy to prepare employees for managerial and executive positions; a multiagency exchange program that will exchange 10 employees with other airports on a quarterly basis; and forums and competency opportunities offered for existing members of the airport’s senior leadership.

These programs, in addition to revolving lectures and guest opportunities, will allow the center to accommodate hundreds of students at a time, Washington said.

“The most important thing is that we change lives,” Washington said. “If we change one life, that’s great.”

The center is part of the third and final phase of the airport’s Great Hall Project — a renovation of the main Jeppesen Terminal the airport has been working on since 2018. This month, the City Council approved $1.1 billion in contracts to complete the project by the summer of 2028, pushing the cost of the project to $1.87 billion, with another $200 million expected to be paid directly by the airport.

While there is no projected opening date for the center, Washington said it is one of the first priorities in phase three. The center’s design is expected to be completed within the next six months. The 40,000-square-foot space should be built out around 12 months after that.