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EASTMAN, Ga. (AP) — Aspiring aviators will likely maneuver smooth skies if they enter their job search in the next twenty years.
The airline industry predicts a need for more than a half-million pilots.
The Middle Georgia State College Aviation Campus in Eastman is helping to fuel the pilot pipeline. But instructors warn the journey to the captain's seat often comes with some turbulence.
For Michael Cerame and Clifford Appleman, two flight students, the skies always beckoned.
Cerame said, "I've always loved aviation."
It felt only natural for the two to enroll in flight training school at Middle Georgia State College.
Both plan to pilot for major airlines, believing when they're ready, the field will be wide-open.
Appleman said, "In the next few years, there's going to be a huge boom in the need for aviators, coming out of flight schools."
Department Chair and flight chief at the college, Adam Holloway said, "Not only is there a domestic need, but it's also a global need."
Holloway describes conditions that created the demand as a perfect storm.
At the same time, baby boomers are reaching the mandatory pilot retirement age of 65, the Federal Aviation Administration upped the number of flying hours required to obtain an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate.
They changed mandatory flight hours from 250 to 1,500. It's reduced to 1,000 for students who attend FAA accredited schools.
Holloway said, "You have to attend a school like this. You have to attend a program like this that is FAA approved."
That's where some student's dreams of flying crash.
Pilot training school typically costs between $50,00 and $100,000. Holloway says scholarships, like HOPE, don't cover flight training.
Cerame said, "I'm taking out loans to pay for my flight hours." When he lands that first job at a regional airline, Cerame's salary will hover around $20,000 a year.
Appleman said, "It does cost a good chunk of change, but in the end, I think it is all worth it. You'll make the money back eventually."
Holloway says the trajectory of a 20-year career in the pilot seat can reach $200,000 at a major airline.
That's what the Cerame, Appleman and the 150 other students enrolled in the Middle Georgia State College aviation program see on the horizon.
To help with the pilot shortage, aviation industry leaders have suggested re-establishing a civilian pilot training program. It was first used to provide pilot scholarships just before World War II, when there was another shortage.
Another suggestion is raising the mandatory pilot retirement age from 65 to 70, to keep people in the workforce longer.
Middle Georgia State College offers a program that allows students to work toward a four-year degree and their pilots license at the same time.
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Information from: WMAZ-TV, http://www.wmaz.com/
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