Flight Training

The House Aviation Subcommittee heard polar opposite views of the pilot shortage in testimony during a hearing focused on the approaching FAA reauthorization bill on Wednesday. The Regional Airline Association appeared before the committee saying the pilot shortage has already cut the number of available flights by 25 percent as major airlines poach the most […]

Tecnam recently announced that it has received fleet orders from U.S.-based flight schools HCH Aviation and Melbourne Flight Training. HCH Aviation, which provides flight training for Texas’ Stephen F. Austin State University, has signed up for 15 single-engine P-Mentors. The school currently flies Piper 100i and Tecnam P2002 Sierra MKII for single-engine training and the […]

Over 700 people attended a “200 Free Flights” event held by California-based flight school Sling Pilot Academy earlier this month. The event brought high school and college students to Torrance Municipal Airport (KTOA) for free introductory flights and other aviation-related activities including simulator sessions, a tour of Sling’s aircraft manufacturing facility and a one-hour presentation […]

Flight training organizations along with EAA and AOPA are urging the FAA to take a hard look at the availability and effectiveness of aviation knowledge tests. In 2018, the agency awarded an exclusive contract to PSI to administer the gamut of written tests. On Jan. 1, 2023, the company cut the fee it paid to […]

Spirit Airlines has partnered with Boca Raton, Florida-based Lynn University to launch a new pilot pathway program. The first university partnership for the airline, the Spirit Wings Pilot Pathway program will be open to Lynn aeronautics degree students who have completed their sophomore year and gotten a recommendation from a faculty member at the school’s […]

Most owners of experimental aircraft no longer need special authorization to get training or checkouts thanks to a notification of policy published by the FAA on Feb. 8. The relief from the requirement for a letter of deviation authority (LODA) for paid training in an experimental airplane was in the James M. Inhofe National Defense […]

United Airlines has graduated its first class of new pilots from its Aviate Academy in Arizona. The first class of 51 new pilots, 80 percent of them women or people of color, got their wings earlier this week. United wants to crank out 5,000 new pilots from the school over the next seven years and […]

A sharp decline in new pilot graduations combined with increased demand from a flurry of new airline startups is creating an incipient pilot shortage that appears to be creating concern in Canada. Since 2019, the number of new commercial pilot licenses issued has dropped from a relatively consistent 1,100 a year to less than 300 […]

Nevada-based aircraft sales company AEROCOR has completed its 150th training event for pilots of Eclipse 500 very light jets. The organization received FAA approval for its Eclipse 500/550 initial and recurrent training programs in 2019. AEROCOR noted that the training numbers for its Eclipse programs have exceeded the company’s performance predictions for the last two […]

The Regional Airline Association is accusing the Air Line Pilots Association of “gatekeeping” to limit the supply of pilots and ensure the continuation of fat contracts for its members. “It is long past time for industry and policymakers to call this harmful tactic exactly what it is: gatekeeping, which stands as an affront to all who […]