Preliminary Information... Official Press Release Coming Today

ANN RealTime Update 1611 EST, 02.02.06: The instructors and students of Embry-Riddle's CAPT (Commercial Airline Pilot Training) Program are being informed today that their program is a lame duck. Those currently in the program will finish their training, lest Riddle have to refund their money -- refunds are the wolfsbane of Riddle administrators. But effective immediately, no new pilots are being recruited. As each segment of the remaining students' training is completed, the instructors will be offered other positions -- or let go.

A formal press release is supposed to be issued at three PM.

Ab-initio training for pilots who already have university degrees is a hot market, but it doesn't fit into the long term plans of the Board of Trustees, which can be encapsulated as:

• abandoning the training of professional pilots as a major focus of the university.
• focusing instead on expanding the business department of the college, currently well-known in the industry as the fallback major for marginal students that flunk out of Aero Sci;
• expanding into foreign nations. One controversial move in that direction is to establish a campus in Doha, Qatar, which will teach Arab students who cannot or will not come to study in the USA;
• in the long run it may retain "Aeronautical" in the name, but only because it trains engineers and managers for aviation, as a less than wholehearted focus.

There may be something to that, if they could pull it off -- is it a better career to be a United pilot, or Glenn Tilton?

The interim President selected by the Board of Trustees, Dr. John Johnson, is neither an aviator nor interested in aviation. His first act was to cancel the lease on the Citation jet that had shuttled administrators between the Daytona and Prescott, AZ campuses. The jet was viewed by faculty, especially business department and liberal- arts faculty, as a wasteful extravagance.

There is a possibility that CAPT or something very much like it may be reborn under another corporate or academic banner. CAPT has been under the hammer for some time, and has been visited by a number of possible suitors. Riddle is known to have received letters of intent for the program as a whole, but has apparently decided to pull the plug rather than sell the program intact. It was a very expensive program that may never have achieved break-even; the initial Managing Director estimated that break-even was 100 pilots a year.

This is not a complete shock to the faculty and students. Johnson indicated shortly after being named that he was targeting CAPT, and some high-value personnel have already left for competing flight- training operations. Now that the program is officially in run-out mode, it will take an extremely free hand with retention-bonus money to keep the program from imploding before its scheduled windup date.

It will be a shock, however, to CAPT's partner airlines. A recent placement team visit to several airlines was successful, with several new airlines, including American Eagle, agreeing to accept CAPT graduates at reduced minimums. Of the lines which have hired CAPT graduates already, all have commented on their readiness for initial orientation and training, and most have asked for more graduates.

The secret to CAPT's success at producing superior pilots was its highly selective admissions standards. As a school, it can administer much more in-depth pre-admission tests than an employer can, under Federal laws. The preferred test scores at CAPT were normed to a sample of airlines' self-defined model employees, in a conscious attempt to produce crew members with the cognitive and personality traits most valued by the airlines.

The methodology is sound. It's just homeless, for now.

Official ERAU Statement: Embry-Riddle Phases Out CAPT Program Initiative

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will discontinue enrolling new cadets into its Commercial Airline Pilot Training (CAPT) program initiative effective Feb. 14.

The intense 12-14 month program located at Flagler County Airport in Bunnell, Fla., enrolls students who already have jobs and degrees, but are looking for a career change. While graduates were successfully placed as pilots for regional and cargo carriers, the university decided the program did not fit into its strategic plans for the future.

“CAPT is an exciting approach to pilot training, but we decided to focus our efforts and resources on our flagship pilot training programs at our residential campuses,” said John P. Johnson, interim president of Embry-Riddle.

Embry-Riddle educates nearly 2,000 students in its pilot training programs at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz.

Over the next year, the university will complete the training for all cadets currently enrolled. Training will continue at Flagler County Airport during that period. The Bunnell facility is leased from the airport and a new tenant will be sought.

Of the 57 graduates to date, several are engaged in employer-based training to pilot 747 cargo aircraft and others are now with regional airlines. Embry-Riddle will explore adopting some of the innovative features of the CAPT system of instruction into the flight programs at the Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., campuses.

The highly selective admissions criteria of the CAPT program, which includes a thorough background check and psychological screening prior to enrollment, make CAPT graduates highly desirable to employers.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our outstanding cadets and staff,” said Martin Schaaf, executive director of CAPT. “We are also pleased that we enjoyed such a strong relationship with several air carriers who worked with us to develop the program.”

FMI: www.erau.edu