New Bern, N.C. – Tradewind Flight Services, Inc. (TFSI) of New Bern, North Carolina and Craven Community College (Craven CC) have finalized an agreement to provide pilot training for the Aviation Management and Career Pilot Technology program.
Preparations for this joint program have been underway for over two years. The program is open to all eligible students, including military veterans and high school graduates who are seeking a career in aviation as a commercial pilot. Each student entering the program will receive rigorous academic ground instruction and earn over 300 hours of flight training in the two-year program. TFSI provides all flight training, while Craven CC provides college instruction in ground flight theory for each rating, air navigation, aerodynamics, aviation safety, human factors in aviation, air traffic control, engine and systems, air transportation, physics, math and English.
This program has been a longtime dream of Thomas Dolder, founder of Tradewind. “I have dreamed about this moment for over 20 years of making this small flight school into an aviation training campus, and we have finally arrived,” he said. “In addition to our agreement with Craven CC, we also have been maintaining an agreement with Horizon Swiss Flight Academy for 20 years to provide pilots from Switzerland with quality flight time or to obtain FAA certifications while conducting training in New Bern.”
Expansion of TFSI’s New Bern location comes at a time when the airline industry is experiencing a considerable retirement phase of airline pilots, resulting in a pilot shortage. Onvoi Global Services, the parent company of TFSI, intends to continue to invest in its New Bern location and is extremely excited about the first class of 17 Craven CC students. The program participation is expected to double next year.
“This is a huge step forward for the local community based on a public and private partnership,” stated Darryl Centanni, president and founder of Onvoi Global Services. “This gives students an opportunity to fill an immediate need in the airline industry and expands the established aviation program at Craven, offering aircraft maintenance programs to management and pilot programs. These are tangible skillsets in which our graduates will be given an increased opportunity for success. TFSI gets to grow its future instructor pilots and mechanics, and the community gets a tax-paying employee loyal to the local community. This is a win-win for everyone.”
Since Craven CC is a two-year institution, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reduces the total flight time program graduates must achieve, so students will qualify for the Airline Transport Pilot Exam at 1,250 flight hours. Following graduation, all students will be assessed as potential TFSI Certified Flight Instructors. Students qualifying will be offered a position to help pay off their debt and build flight hours for airlines.
“Our students will also be well prepared upon graduation for employment as airport managers, fixed-base operators, flight instructors, flight dispatchers and more,” said Mark Marsteller, Craven CC director of aviation programs. “This partnership between the community college and private industry for flight training is the only opportunity of this kind in the Carolinas. Over the next 10 years, a significant pilot shortage of approximately 36,000 pilot jobs in the U.S. and over 250,000 pilot jobs worldwide will provide a lucrative market for new graduates to find full-time work as a pilot.”
With the anticipated reduction in career pilots due to mandated retirement age, airlines are beginning to look now to replace this shortage.
“The benefit of coming to Craven CC is the quality instruction the student receives and relatively low costs as compared to other options,” said Wally Calabrese, dean of the Craven CC Havelock campus. “Our partnership with TFSI will have lasting effects, not only in our local community, but nationally as well as our students enter the corporate, regional and national carriers.”
For additional information about Onvoi and TFSI, visit:
www.ogsvc.com
www.tradewind-aviation.com
www.eagle-mx.com
Submitted by: Craig Ramey, Director of Communications, Craven Community College