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.”