Mark Merwick, a pilot and recruiter with Minneapolis-based Endeavor Air, talks with a group of students during the Utah State University Aviation job fair on Tuesday afternoon at the Logan-Cache Airport.
A shortage of pilots in the aviation industry means a rosy outlook for college students and recent graduates.
The demand for pilots started rising several years ago as military veterans flying commercially started seeking retirement, leaving a void in the industry for the next generation of pilots to fill, said Jeffrey Baldwin, USU senior lecturer for aviation technology. Another factor at play has been a tightening of Federal Aviation Administration regulations in recent years, he added.
But there is an upside to the pilot shortage. Alongside the current paucity of pilots emerges a high outlook on jobs for interested college students pursuing an aviation career, USU Chief Flight Instructor Aaron Dyches said.
“There’s 100 percent job placement right now,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
Living her dream
USU alumna Jessica Hines always dreamed of becoming a pilot.
Growing up in Pocatello, Idaho, Hines would often look up into the sky and yearned to be in the aircraft she saw flying overhead — seeing something new, journeying to a new place every day.
“I wanted to see the world and see a different part of the United States,” Hines said.
Hines started flying in 2002, graduated from USU in 2006, served as a flight instructor for the university for a year and a half, and then joined American Eagle as a pilot. The company is owned by American Airlines, which merged with U.S. Airways in 2013. In April 2014, American Eagle changed its name to Envoy.
Though currently living her childhood dream, it took Hines more effort beyond graduation to get as far as she has and acquire her CFI (Certified Flight Instructor), CFII (Certified Flight Instructor Instrument) and MEI (Multi-Engine Instructor).
Pilots-in-training must complete 1,000 hours of instruction in an airplane, accumulated over the course of their training, in order to receive their pilot certification through the university. Utah State equips students with 250 hours, leaving students with 750 hours to acquire on their own. Dyches said students can obtain some of the additional hours by serving as a flight instructor at the university.
When Hines was a student, she independently reached out to a lot of flight instructors, asking for advice on how to obtain additional flying hours beyond what USU provided her. She also researched airline companies on her own.
Guiding students
Hines did a lot of her networking on her own to achieve her career goals, but this past Tuesday she was on the other side, giving advice on how to pursue an aviation career to USU aviation majors, prospective majors in high school and even middle school students.
At Utah State’s first ever aviation-career fair, the goal was to show students the vast opportunities available, Dyches said.
“(Our goal was) to show both the airlines the quality of students we’re producing and the students what airlines are out there; to ask the questions in one central location rather than looking for it online,” Dyches said.
Is it worth it?
Juxtaposed to the high job-placement rate is the high cost of obtaining the proper training for the job. Dyches said it can cost over $50,000 to rent a plane (rented at hourly rates), as well as flight instruction and licenses.
Utah State dispatcher and flight student Desi Malan explaned students rent one of 16 Utah State planes for instruction, which costs them an hourly rate, contributing to the $50,000 they will accumulate in costs.
Even with the high cost, students still have a positive outlook on aviation careers, especially Mitchell Whitehead, a Utah State senior who will start his career as a pilot with Envoy after he finishes his studies.
Whitehead had an aviation friend at Utah Valley University who got him interested in the program. He then moved to USU to continue his focus. Whitehead said his friend from UVU showed him how to use a flight simulator, which piqued his interest and curiosity in aviation.
“Aviation is pretty important right now. It’s deathly needing pilots. It’s a great business to get into right now,” Whitehead said. “It might cost you a little bit to get where you need to be, but it pays off in the end.”
The idea to host a career fair in the hanger at the Logan-Cache Airport was hatched just before the start of the semester after a few airlines including Envoy, SkyWest and others contacted Dyches saying they would like to talk to students about the value and characteristics of aviation careers. Dyches decided to have all of the companies come together in one setting rather than take time out of class for students to meet with individual airlines.
The purpose was “so the students and airlines both see each other, so they can network to talk to each other,” Dyches said. “My students get excited about going to the airlines. With eight airlines in our small little town wanting them, it encourages them to get done and it shows the airlines what a high quality product or student we’re turning out in the end.”
Each of the airlines, as well as the maintenance companies at the fair, responded positively about returning next year for a second career fair, Dyches said. The airlines present were SkyWest, Republic, Horizon, Envoy, Trans States Airlines, GoJet, Nesa and Endeavor. The maintenance companies were Duncan Aviation and Erickson Air-cranes.
Utah State’s aviation program has approximately 250 students, including 175 to 180 active flying students and 65 maintenance students.
- Source: http://news.hjnews.com
Tyson Bowers, a Utah State University student studying aviation maintenance management, laughs as he nearly crashes in a helicopter flight simulator during the USU Aviation job fair at the Logan-Cache Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment