Instructor Basel Al-Shahrour checks the prop as he does a preflight inspection on a Diamond DA-42 Twin Star before a flight Wednesday with student Philippe Frauchiger on the Phoenix East Aviation flightline. DAYTONA BEACH— Phoenix East Aviation, a flight school based at Daytona Beach International Airport, recently celebrated its 40th anniversary of training pilots in international aviation.
School officials say Phoenix East's anniversary is telling of the institution's ability to adapt to and help innovate the ever-changing aviation industry.
The anniversary celebration took place Aug. 25 at Riverside Pavilion in Port Orange.
Ghassan Reslan, the flight school's chief executive officer, is a former international airline pilot.
"We are celebrating this significant anniversary with all our students from all over the world," he said. "We are one of the few U.S. academies that is truly international with students from all over the globe."
Phoenix East Aviation provides pilot training and specialization in professional flight instruction. The school has 275 students and employs 73 workers.
The flight school occupies a 12,000-square-feet facility at 561 Pearl Harbor Drive. The school also has roughly three acres of ramp space at the airport.
Phoenix East was founded in Lawrence, Mass., in 1972, by Nino Ciancetta, a senior pilot with U.S. Air (now known as U.S. Airways).
In the first years of Phoenix East Aviation, Ciancetta was regional vice president of the Airline Pilots Association, sporadically from 1969 through 1973.
He retired from U.S. Airways with over 31 years and 40,000 flight hours of service.
Ciancetta later moved Phoenix East Aviation to Daytona Beach in 1984 for more favorable flying weather, according to Pat Cobleigh, the flight school's director of marketing.
Ciancetta passed away in 2006 at age 80.
Cobleigh said Phoenix East's anniversary is a "confirmation of the quality of training, management and financial stability of Phoenix East Aviation."
She added that Phoenix East is one of the first flight schools to use Apple iPads as part its curriculum.
Phoenix East Aviation is nationally accredited through the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training and is approved by the Florida Department of Education as a certified vocational rehabilitation school.
The school is qualified to offer Veteran Benefits under the G.I. Bill. Phoenix East is authorized by the federal government to offer F-1, M-1 and J-1 visas for foreign students.
These Visas permit foreign students and instructors to enter the U.S. to attend and teach at government-approved schools.
Stephen Cooke, director of business development at Daytona Beach International Airport, said of Phoenix East: "They are a major aviation academy in the area—they do a great job."
He added, "We hope they will be here to celebrate their 80th anniversary."
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