Offered "Basic Essentials" Until Placed In DCA Program

For a group of more than 150 International flight school students enrolled at CAPT, eviction and hunger were not included as part of their flight training agreement. However, many of the students were left wondering what to do when eviction notices started showing up and weekly food stipends began to diminish this past January.

Sanford, FL-based Delta Connection Academy (DCA) provided assistance to more than 150 of the displaced flight training students. But it came at a cost to DCA, which provided food, transportation, employee time and visa assistance.

"We received a call from our Chinese partners regarding the needs of their students in late January," said Jason Dauderman, Vice President of Finance with DCA. "We immediately sent staff to go grocery shopping, delivering the basic essentials to the students while we worked to find them housing and an option to complete flight training."

DCA continued to provide the basic essentials until last Friday when more than 60 of the students were placed in the DCA flight training program. Students are now housed in Sanford with 40 of the students already processed, in uniform and attending classes.

"These students needed help," said Dauderman. "And we were able to assist a portion of them along with the help of other flight training schools in the area."

The more than 60 International flight training students will spend up to one year at DCA before returning to China to finish out specific training provided by the airlines. DCA has trained students from 90 different countries and has placed pilots with more than 30 airlines including, but not limited to, all Delta Connection carriers, American Eagle Airlines, ExpressJet Airlines and Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines.

In addition to its main campus at the Orlando/Sanford International Airport, the Academy is the flight-training partner for three Colleges and Universities across the United States and has a total enrollment of more than 750 flight students.

FMI: www.deltaconnectionacademy.com