As mid-Missouri college students go back to school this month, some will be heading to the runway. Moberly Area Community College (MACC) leaders and city of Columbia officials celebrated the grand opening Wednesday of the school's new commercial pilot training program.
MACC and the school's flight instructor partners will begin training students to fly airplanes from the Columbia Regional Airport this month. Aviation classes are conducted in the now-remodeled former airport terminal.
MACC President Todd Martin said the goal is to teach local students, in hopes they'll stay to work in a sector that's also growing in Mid-Missouri.
"Having pilots to fly the planes that fly in and out of here is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle to allowing this airport to grow," Martin said. "This is going to be filling that gap in the workforce and providing ways for people in our community to fill that need.
The new program will consist of two years and six semesters of classroom study and flight training. Graduates will earn an associate's degree and complete approximately 250 to 300 hours of flying.
"These programs aren't offered by every college in the country, so it gives us something to differentiate ourselves from a lot of the other schools in the area," Martin said. "But it is first and foremost an opportunity for students to get access to a … lifelong career."
Cesar Banales graduated from Moberly High School this spring and is one of 16 students who will start classes in the commercial pilot training program this month. He's long had an interest in aviation and is thankful the local program began just in time.
"It's gonna be cheaper too because I don't have to go live somewhere else. I'm not gonna be away from my family," Banales said.
Four years ago Columbia Regional Airport operations moved to a new and expanded terminal. Shortly thereafter the city began leasing the old terminal space to MACC. It's undergone a significant remodel, now outfitted with classrooms and a flight simulator.
Student pilots will take off and land on the same two runways the major airlines use to take passengers to and from Mid-Missouri. City of Columbia Airport Manager Mike Parks said the school's operations won't get in the way of commercial flights.
"This is a great complement to what we're doing right now with commercial service," Parks said. "We've had United return to Columbia. We've had Allegiant Airlines start here. We continue to set monthly records. This (program) will not have any impact on commercial operations out here."
The two-year program combines classroom instruction provided by MACC along with lessons from flight instructors from Kansas City-based ATD Flight Systems.
Retired airline pilot Ed Longoria is overseeing the program. The inaugural class of aspiring pilots studied Aviation 101 with Longoria this spring. He said the new curriculum aims to boost the workforce for an industry that's been facing shortages.
"This year, it's estimated that we're going to be short 24,000 pilots. Boeing has forecasted for the next 20 years out, we're going to be short 660,000 pilots," Longoria said. "This program was developed to help put a dent in that situation."
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