VC Star Article with photos
Channel Islands Aviation forms partnership to feed the need for pilots
By Carol Lawrence
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Commercial pilots are anticipated to be in high demand over the next 20 years, and Channel Islands Aviation Inc. in Camarillo has just kicked off a new program to help fill that need.
Based out of the Camarillo Airport, the 37-year-old flight school and business has joined a growing trend of professional flight schools and regional airlines partnering to get new commercial pilots into jobs quicker.
The bridge program between Channel Islands Aviation and regional carrier SkyWest Airlines out of St. George, Utah, will mentor career-minded pilots in training and promises interviews to improve the chance at getting hired by SkyWest.
“This is a way for people here in the local area to flight train, and start a career locally, and know they are going to have a career with the one of the best regional airlines in the business,” said Sarah Oberman Bartush, manager of the flight school and a member of the family that owns the business.
Such programs have formed as regional airlines, which operate half of the nation’s commercial flights, and the major carriers see the widely predicted pilot shortage unfold due to upcoming retirements, orders for new planes and federal regulations that extend the time it takes to become a licensed pilot and lessen the amount of time pilots can fly.
REALIZING A DREAM
The SkyWest pilot cadet program is giving Thousand Oaks resident and certified flight instructor Ashley Tinkler a chance to realize the dream she’s had for most of her 24 years.
Tinkler got “the bug” to fly and become a commercial airline pilot from parents who were flight attendants and a grandfather who was a pilot.
“I love flying above the clouds,” Tinkler said. “I love the structured rules. The work is very challenging, but also very fun. I’m not stuck in an office, and not seeing the same thing every day.”
Under the program, Tinkler, already a private pilot, a single-engine commercial pilot and a flight instructor, must accumulate 1,500 hours of flying and earn a multi-engine certificate to meet Airline Transport Pilot requirements before she can work for SkyWest.
Her goal is to complete all the requirements in two to three years and then fly with SkyWest. It’s why she joined the cadet program, she said.
“SkyWest is at the top of its class in terms of how they treat employees,” Tinkler said.
Tinkler will be able to learn about SkyWest, what it looks for in a pilot and about the job through a mentorship with a SkyWest pilot, said Wes Horrocks, spokesman for SkyWest. Once all the qualifications are met, cadets like Tinkler are promised an interview for a co-pilot position.
SkyWest has similar programs with 12 other flight schools.
New co-pilots typically work three to four days a week, according to Horrocks. Salaries start at $22 per flight hour and they fly an allowed 60 hours a month, which increases to 75 over time. By the third year, the salary grows to between $28.24 and $35.97 per flight hour, depending on the plane type, according to the company website.
Horrocks said pilots typically build up flight hours with regional airlines and then go on to the major airlines.
Regional carriers, however, all will have to wait longer than before for new co-pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration just raised the required flight hours to 1,500 hours from the previous 250 hours under new Airline Transport Minimums. Other new rules include longer rest periods for pilots between flights.
WIN-WIN SITUATION
SkyWest needs new pilots because its parent company, which owns ExpressJet Airlines Inc. in Atlanta, the world’s largest regional airline, has ordered 100 new planes for the two regionals. It’s also reserved 400 more with manufacturers over the next five years.
The new planes, which will be delivered across several months, will fit more passengers to meet demands from SkyWest’s major-carrier partners and will provide greater fuel efficiency, Horrocks said.
“If we’re able to continue growing and taking on new aircraft, that would mean we would need more pilots,” Horrocks said. “The number will depend on the number of aircraft, but we are looking at hiring pilots on a regular basis and training on a regular basis.”
Bartush, with Channel Islands Aviation, said the business has rebounded from the Great Recession, and this will only help. The professional pilot program, which costs about $65,000, has about 25 students and 75 to 100 in the flight school. About half the graduates have worked for SkyWest, she said.
Bartush believes SkyWest chose to partner with Channel Islands because it offers a professional pilot program and trains it pilots with a flight simulator, a popular tool with carriers.
“It’s a big deal for us, and also an honor to be selected,” Bartush said. “We’re obviously doing something right if they want to work with us.”
Santa Barbara Business College, with a campus in Ventura, also has heard about the pending pilot shortage and is considering developing a two-year degree in aeronautics with commercial pilot flight instruction.
Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing predicted in a recent industry forecast that 498,000 commercial airline pilots will be needed to fly new airplanes expected to be delivered over the next 20 years. North America will need about 17 percent of that, the study said.
That prediction and studies by the FAA, universities and other aerospace companies have prompted the partnerships between regional carriers and flight schools, said Regional Airlines Association President Roger Cohen.
“I would tell any young person that if you’re even thinking about becoming an airline pilot, don’t hesitate — do it,” Cohen said. “There will be a job, and a good job, for you as long as you follow the right path.”
Based out of the Camarillo Airport, the 37-year-old flight school and business has joined a growing trend of professional flight schools and regional airlines partnering to get new commercial pilots into jobs quicker.
The bridge program between Channel Islands Aviation and regional carrier SkyWest Airlines out of St. George, Utah, will mentor career-minded pilots in training and promises interviews to improve the chance at getting hired by SkyWest.
“This is a way for people here in the local area to flight train, and start a career locally, and know they are going to have a career with the one of the best regional airlines in the business,” said Sarah Oberman Bartush, manager of the flight school and a member of the family that owns the business.
Such programs have formed as regional airlines, which operate half of the nation’s commercial flights, and the major carriers see the widely predicted pilot shortage unfold due to upcoming retirements, orders for new planes and federal regulations that extend the time it takes to become a licensed pilot and lessen the amount of time pilots can fly.
REALIZING A DREAM
The SkyWest pilot cadet program is giving Thousand Oaks resident and certified flight instructor Ashley Tinkler a chance to realize the dream she’s had for most of her 24 years.
Tinkler got “the bug” to fly and become a commercial airline pilot from parents who were flight attendants and a grandfather who was a pilot.
“I love flying above the clouds,” Tinkler said. “I love the structured rules. The work is very challenging, but also very fun. I’m not stuck in an office, and not seeing the same thing every day.”
Under the program, Tinkler, already a private pilot, a single-engine commercial pilot and a flight instructor, must accumulate 1,500 hours of flying and earn a multi-engine certificate to meet Airline Transport Pilot requirements before she can work for SkyWest.
Her goal is to complete all the requirements in two to three years and then fly with SkyWest. It’s why she joined the cadet program, she said.
“SkyWest is at the top of its class in terms of how they treat employees,” Tinkler said.
Tinkler will be able to learn about SkyWest, what it looks for in a pilot and about the job through a mentorship with a SkyWest pilot, said Wes Horrocks, spokesman for SkyWest. Once all the qualifications are met, cadets like Tinkler are promised an interview for a co-pilot position.
SkyWest has similar programs with 12 other flight schools.
New co-pilots typically work three to four days a week, according to Horrocks. Salaries start at $22 per flight hour and they fly an allowed 60 hours a month, which increases to 75 over time. By the third year, the salary grows to between $28.24 and $35.97 per flight hour, depending on the plane type, according to the company website.
Horrocks said pilots typically build up flight hours with regional airlines and then go on to the major airlines.
Regional carriers, however, all will have to wait longer than before for new co-pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration just raised the required flight hours to 1,500 hours from the previous 250 hours under new Airline Transport Minimums. Other new rules include longer rest periods for pilots between flights.
WIN-WIN SITUATION
SkyWest needs new pilots because its parent company, which owns ExpressJet Airlines Inc. in Atlanta, the world’s largest regional airline, has ordered 100 new planes for the two regionals. It’s also reserved 400 more with manufacturers over the next five years.
The new planes, which will be delivered across several months, will fit more passengers to meet demands from SkyWest’s major-carrier partners and will provide greater fuel efficiency, Horrocks said.
“If we’re able to continue growing and taking on new aircraft, that would mean we would need more pilots,” Horrocks said. “The number will depend on the number of aircraft, but we are looking at hiring pilots on a regular basis and training on a regular basis.”
Bartush, with Channel Islands Aviation, said the business has rebounded from the Great Recession, and this will only help. The professional pilot program, which costs about $65,000, has about 25 students and 75 to 100 in the flight school. About half the graduates have worked for SkyWest, she said.
Bartush believes SkyWest chose to partner with Channel Islands because it offers a professional pilot program and trains it pilots with a flight simulator, a popular tool with carriers.
“It’s a big deal for us, and also an honor to be selected,” Bartush said. “We’re obviously doing something right if they want to work with us.”
Santa Barbara Business College, with a campus in Ventura, also has heard about the pending pilot shortage and is considering developing a two-year degree in aeronautics with commercial pilot flight instruction.
Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing predicted in a recent industry forecast that 498,000 commercial airline pilots will be needed to fly new airplanes expected to be delivered over the next 20 years. North America will need about 17 percent of that, the study said.
That prediction and studies by the FAA, universities and other aerospace companies have prompted the partnerships between regional carriers and flight schools, said Regional Airlines Association President Roger Cohen.
“I would tell any young person that if you’re even thinking about becoming an airline pilot, don’t hesitate — do it,” Cohen said. “There will be a job, and a good job, for you as long as you follow the right path.”
