26th Annual Awards Class Pursuing Careers Or Advancements

Aviation fuel distributor AvFuel announced its 26th Annual Scholaship Class of young aspiring aviation professionals.who will be able to fund their passion through the generosity of the scholarship awards totaling $4,500 this year.

Holly Cron of Spring, Texas, received the $2,000 AVTRIP scholarship. She is currently an air traffic controller and plans to use the funds to transition into a certified flight instructor and then gaining flight hours to become a contract pilot.

Cron said, “I could not be more thankful for this scholarship toward my multi-engine rating, and I’m looking forward to using my newly gained knowledge to help pilots who may encounter problems while flying, and to further expand my ATC pilot outreach capabilities.”

Britney Howard is the recipient of a $1,000 Pilot-in-Training award and will use the funds to attend Wings Flight School in Lexington, Kentucky. After starting out as a photographer, a random chance ride in a small airplane convinced her she wanted to pursue a career as a pilot.

Howard said, “This scholarship means so much to me and my family,” “We are so thankful to be selected! I began my journey in aviation a bit unconventionally, as I already had a fully developed career, a husband and four young children. It has been an incredible journey so far in my training, and also incredibly expensive! This is a huge encouragement to me both financially and emotionally. It is acts of kindness and encouragement like this - people willing to give time, money, scholarships, etc. - that keep people like me moving forward on the path to being a professional aviator. I will carry the encouragement from this into the phases of my training to come.”

Kenny Melis of New York, New York will receive the $1,500 pilot-in-Training award and with a life-long passion for aviation will use the funds to attend Air Fleet Training Systems in New Jersey.

Melis said, “From a private pilot’s license to an airline transport pilot, [my] ultimate goal is to join one of the major airlines while having a different ‘office view’ every time I fly.”

FMI:  www.avfuel.com/