A Spirit Airlines airplane removes at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, June 1, 2023.
Mario Tama|Getty Images
Spirit Airlines on Thursday stated it will partner with Liberty University, the 10 th school that it’s dealing with, to assist boost a pilot training pipeline as the market continues to deal with a shortage of pilots.
The program will permit trainees pursuing air travel degrees at the university’s School of Aeronautics in Lynchburg, Virginia, to use to the business’s pipeline program after finishing their sophomore year. Prospective students will require a suggestion from a professor prior to being qualified to start the program.
Students pursuing an air travel degree can get conditional task uses as they complete their research studies and deal with accumulating flight hours. They should then finish airline company pilot training programs, signing up with as very first officers.
“We put a lot of hard work into developing the Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway Program and assembling a great group of partners making it incredibly rewarding to reach this key milestone,” Ryan Rodosta, senior director of flight operations and system primary pilot at Spirit, stated in a news release.
Other providers have actually likewise looked for to increase their supply of brand-new pilots. U.S. airline pilots can just fly up until age 65 under U.S. law. A rise in retirements and buyouts throughout the Covid-19 pandemic have actually intensified a shortage, especially at local providers.
JetBlue revealed last month that its Gateway Rotor Transition Program will teach U.S.-military qualified helicopter pilots to shift to airline company pilots. More than 10% of JetBlue’s brand-new pilot works with in 2023 are anticipated to come from among its Gateway programs, JetBlue stated at the time.
In February 2020, United Airlines acquired a flight academy in an effort to employ more than 10,000 brand-new pilots within the years.
Airlines are incentivized to train brand-new pilots utilizing pipeline programs. U.S. law needs pilots to get 1,500 hours of training to fly with airlines. Exceptions exist for some, such as U.S. military-trained pilots and those who go to 2- and four-year programs that consist of flight training.
