Enhanced Program A 'Win-Win' For Students, Employers, College Says

Air carriers need well-trained pilots and Parkland College Institute of Aviation has stepped up with an enhanced program to prepare students for their first job with air carriers. Through this program both students and the airlines win, the college says.

For someone to be eligible to serve as a first officer aboard a Part 121 Air Carrier operation, FAA now requires each pilot to possess an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP). Previously, first officer applicants had to produce a Commercial Pilot certificate with a minimum of 250 hours documented.

In July 2013, after completing its investigation of the 2009 Colgan Air Bombardier Q400 crash, FAA released upgraded standards for pilot certification and qualification for air carrier operations. The altered regulation is commonly referred to as the "1,500-hour rule."

However, the agency's 2013 rule also created the Restricted ATP (R-ATP) qualification, allowing a pilot to serve as an airline first officer before reaching the necessary 1,500 hours for a full, unrestricted ATP. An R-ATP certificate requires that the pilot be 21 years of age and successfully complete a checkride. However, in lieu of the minimum hours, it offers credit for specified education and training. This part of the newer regulation acknowledges that specialized, quality training can be an effective substitute for total experience. One of the options for R-ATP minimum experience requires 1,250 hours for graduates holding an associate degree with an aviation major from an approved school.

"Our students who earn the Associate of Science degree, have earned 30 approved aviation credit hours of coursework," said Sybil Phillips, Director of the Institute of Aviation. "They receive their instrument and commercial training through our Part 141 curriculum and can receive the R-ATP certificate with 1,250 total hours instead of 1,500 total hours."

"This allows these students to more quickly gain work for a Part 121 air carrier and at reduced cost," added Phillips. Parkland's Institute of Aviation is prepared and qualified to deliver this experience to students in a shorter time and at considerably less expense, providing a major benefit for both students and the airlines for which they may eventually work.

The Institute of Aviation's reputation of producing outstanding alumni dates back to its founding in 1946. Institute alumni fly for all major U.S. airlines and for military, corporate, cargo, and charter organizations worldwide. More than 3,000 Institute of Aviation graduates have gone on to train other pilots as instructors.

(Source: Parkland Institute of Aviation news release)

FMI: www.parkland.edu/aviation