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Jon Dunn ReportingWith financial rain clouds hovering over troubled airlines, there are growing questions for people thinking about careers in the aviation industry.
At Westminster College in Salt Lake City, students can major in aviation. As upper classmen, they get to try out a Boeing 737 flight simulator.
"They go to the regionals, they build hours there. Then, there's the next stepping stone," says flight instructor Manny Villalobos. "So they're ready to fly, except they have to build hours."
Villalobos says he's very optimistic about the future for his students.
"I think that all students still are very interested in aviation," Villalobos says. "I don't think this is swaying them one way or the other. A lot of people just have it in their hearts this is what they want to pursue, and hopefully things work out."
Villalobos says there are plenty of choices too.
"Corporate would be good. That's another area that people may go to. Sometimes that's all people want to do is corporate. They don't want to go to the majors," Villalobos says.
At the Salt Lake City International Airport, students are still registering and taking off for flight lessons at Cornerstone Aviation.
"I actually flew for Pan Am, so I have been at an airline that has gone into bankruptcy, so I kind of know a little bit about that," says Susan Horstman.
She owns the flight school and says her students are still getting hired at regional airlines - considered to be the stepping stone to the "big leagues."
"Even though some of the major airlines are having problems monetarily, which they do, it's cyclical too. There are a lot of retirements going on. There's a lot of guys that are in their 50s that have to retire, and the airlines have to replace them," Horstman says.
Even though the benefits have been sliced and the pay has been cut in half at airlines like Delta, Horstman says the salaries for commercial pilots are still pretty good.
"It moves up. You even stay with the regionals; their pay at the top is decent. It's good pay," Horstman says.
