{"id":4984,"date":"2023-08-30T13:29:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T18:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/?p=4984"},"modified":"2023-10-25T06:27:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T11:27:29","slug":"enthusiasm-high-as-skybornes-pilot-training-grows-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/news-events\/enthusiasm-high-as-skybornes-pilot-training-grows-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Enthusiasm high as Skyborne\u2019s pilot training grows here"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Amid sharp increases in post-COVID air travel and a global pilot shortage, Skyborne Airline Academy\u2019s Vero Beach campus has been buzzing with activity as more than 300 flight students have come here for training during the past 18 months.<\/p>

The campus, in fact, got busier in June.<\/p>

That\u2019s when the first 20 students enrolled in Delta Airlines\u2019 pilot-career pathway program arrived in Vero Beach to train at the carrier\u2019s Propel Flight Academy, which operates in partnership with Skyborne.<\/p>

This past Tuesday, Delta and Skyborne officials were scheduled to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of a newly renovated building that will serve as the Propel academy\u2019s administration headquarters at the Vero Beach Regional Airport.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ll be sharing the building with Delta, which will have a presence here,\u201d said Ed Davidson<\/strong>, Skyborne\u2019s managing director of flight-training operations in Vero Beach. \u201cWe provide the training and facilities, but Delta will have at least one or two representatives on site to oversee the program and offer career counseling to their students.\u201d<\/p>

Delta is the largest of the carriers with which Skyborne has established partnerships.<\/p>

Among the others are SkyWest Airlines, the nation\u2019s largest regional carrier, and Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines formerly known as American Eagle Airlines.<\/p>

In addition, Skyborne has agreements to train pilots for two charter airlines.<\/p>

Those partnerships and agreements are good for business, Davidson said<\/strong>, adding that Skyborne students \u2013 those who start with no flight experience whatsoever \u2013 will spend as much as $85,000 to become an airline pilot.<\/p>

\u201cThat\u2019s 15 to 20 percent less than it would cost you to get your medical or law degree,\u201d Davidson said<\/strong>.<\/p>

Some Skyborne students, however, don\u2019t have even a bachelor\u2019s degree, since airlines no longer require a college education for its pilots. Davidson said<\/strong> the academy\u2019s enrollment consists of a mix of high school graduates, college graduates and \u201ccareer changers.\u201d<\/p>

Some of those looking to change careers, he added, are well educated and in their 30s and 40s.<\/p>

\u201cWith the salaries, benefits and time off airline pilots are getting nowadays, it\u2019s a very attractive career \u2013 and the national news media has really been hyping the pilot shortage,\u201d Davidson said<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cA lot of people, especially younger people, see an excellent opportunity to come into the airline industry and accelerate their careers quickly.\u201d<\/p>

The website for The Boeing Company, one of the world\u2019s largest airplane manufacturers, states that the long-term demand for newly qualified aviation personnel remains strong as 649,000 new pilots will be needed to fly the global commercial fleet over the next 20 years.<\/p>

The site claims the air-travel industry still faces \u201clingering challenges\u201d in meeting the demand, citing \u201cinsufficient training capacity to support significant personnel shortages and the lag time required to bring personnel online while continuing to prioritize safety.\u201d<\/p>

According to Boeing, investment in early career-development programs and outreach efforts that \u201cspark excitement among future aviators\u201d is essential to a healthy aviation market.<\/p>

That excitement can be found on the Skyborne\u2019s Vero Beach campus, where Davidson said<\/strong> about 60 percent of the students are from the U.S. and the overall enrollment is up 135 percent since the academy began its operations here.<\/p>

Skyborne, which was founded at the Gloucestershire Airport in the United Kingdom in 2018, quickly earned an international reputation as one of the most respected commercial-pilot training schools in the industry.<\/p>

Skyborne purchased Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach in May 2021.<\/p>

While the global pilot shortage has helped attract students to the Skyborne campus, it also has created a national shortage of certified flight instructors as commercial airlines \u2013 particularly regional carriers \u2013 have lured them away with better salaries, benefits and schedules.<\/p>

Skyborne, which currently has 49 such instructors, should have 55 to 60 to accommodate its enrollment, Davidson said<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cFlight instructors typically have over 1,500 hours and the rating required by the airline industry, so they\u2019re attractive to the airlines, especially the regional airlines desperate for first officers,\u201d Davidson said<\/strong>. \u201cThey\u2019re getting hired, and we\u2019re trying to replace them.\u201d<\/p>

To that end, Davidson traveled the state last week, making stops in Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami in an effort to recruit instructors.<\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019ve hired 15 in the last two months,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve come to us from other schools, because of our higher wage level and benefits package, so our outlook is better. But it is a problem throughout the industry.<\/p>

\u201cWe won\u2019t solve the pilot shortage until we solve the flight-instructor shortage.\u201d<\/p>

Delta\u2019s Propel program, launched in 2018 to identify, select and develop the next generation of pilots, is designed to take candidates though to their commercial and certified flight instructor ratings on their path to becoming a first officer.<\/p>

A statement from Delta described Propel as a highly selective program that provides current employees, who have worked for the company for at least three years, with a transition opportunity and the support to pursue a career as a commercial airline pilot.<\/p>

To qualify, candidates must have a private pilot\u2019s license and at least 100 hours of flight time.<\/p>

Only a select few are chosen each year. They are then given a defined path, timeline to become a Delta pilot, and five-year leave of absence to complete their training.<\/p>

After being trained by Skyborne and working no more than 42 months at a Delta Connection carrier, Propel participants may transition to a pilot position at Delta Airlines.<\/p>

When Delta\u2019s partnership with Skyborne was first announced last summer, Davidson said<\/strong> Propel candidates can expect to spend 30 to 40 weeks at the academy, where they\u2019ll train in single-engine Piper Warrior aircraft.<\/p>

\u201cEvery aspect of our training is designed to prepare cadets for airline operations in terms of core knowledge and decision making, flight deck procedures and professionalism,\u201d Davidson said<\/strong>.<\/p>

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Amid sharp increases in post-COVID air travel and a global pilot shortage, Skyborne Airline Academy\u2019s Vero Beach campus has been buzzing with activity as more than 300 flight students have come here for training during the past 18 months. The campus, in fact, got busier in June. That\u2019s when the first 20 students enrolled in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crosspost_to_3":false,"_crosspost_to_4":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[],"skyborne_type":[18],"skyborne_region":[14],"class_list":["post-4984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academy","category-pilot-pathways","skyborne_type-news","skyborne_region-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4984"},{"taxonomy":"skyborne_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/skyborne_type?post=4984"},{"taxonomy":"skyborne_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skyborne.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/skyborne_region?post=4984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}