PRESS RELEASE
Featured Training School - San Juan College
Norfolk, VA - May, 2008
“Train With Us, Then Fly For Us!” has been the long-standing philosophy at San Juan College where student pilots have been trained specifically to become first officers for Mesa Air Group since 1989. Farmington resident and Mesa founder, Larry Risley, approached the college in this northwestern New Mexico community about training pilots for his company. “It was really a way of introducing local people to aviation and giving them the opportunity to become pilots but Risley was convinced that it could mean a supply of pilots for his own company. They were to be trained the way he wanted them to be and stay with him to build flight time”, said Dr. James C. Henderson, who was the President of the college at the time. “We knew there was a glut of pilots back then but it made good sense to create a partnership with the airline that would allow the graduates to go straight to the company to fly in the right seat”, said Henderson. The program is an educational partnership between the regional carrier and the community college that has produced a proven pilot product consistently for nearly 20 years. Mesa Pilot Development, the training arm of the program and a subsidiary company of Mesa Air Group, provides the training aircraft, A36 Bonanzas and B58 Barons, flight instructors, and the administrative support. San Juan College provides the ground school instructors, recruitment, marketing, financial aid programs, and administrative staff in addition to other college support services. Graduates are guaranteed first officer interviews with Mesa where placement typically averages 95%. San Juan College offers two flight programs: the Primary program, designed for students who have no flight time, minimal flight time, or have a Private Pilot Certificate, and the PACE program designed for pilots who already have 200 hours in flight time and are instrument and commercial single-engine rated. “We can meet a student’s training needs at their level, saving them time and money”, said Donley Watkins, Chief Flight Instructor. Students in the Primary program will earn an Associate of Applied Science degree in Aviation Technology if they are not already degreed at another college or university. Students take a prescribed order of general education credits such as Physics, Math, and English in conjunction with their aviation core curriculum. “If a student has previous college credit (but didn’t complete a degree at another institution), he or she can receive transfer credit for similar courses,” according to Rae Lynn Shropshire, the program’s coordinator. “We’re not here to make the pilots repeat course work; we’re here to produce first officer pilots for Mesa and provide excellent training”, said Shropshire. Primary students train their first three semesters in the A36 Bonanza, a high performance aircraft with retractable gear, in order to earn private, instrument, and commercial single engine certificates and build approximately 230 – 250 hours in flight time. “If a pilot comes in with a PPL, we have an abbreviated syllabus in place to get them ready to complete the instrument certificate and then move on to their commercial multi-engine certificate,” added Watkins. “If they already have a degree from another college or university, they do the Certificate (Primary) program which means there are no general education requirements”. The Primary program is approximately 17 months long (semester system), depending on whether the student has a Private Pilot License. The Professional Airline Career Enhancement (PACE) program, added in 1999, is approximately 5 months long; pilots have the option to either come in with their MEL or earn the certificate in the program under Part 141. PACE pilots and multi-engine pilots from the Primary program attend ground schools together. Pilots go through systems training for the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) in a semester in preparation for moving to the capstone course in the CRJ flight training device located on the college’s campus. They fly the B58 Barons to sharpen instrument skills and grow accustomed to working with checklists and callouts that mirror what they see as pilot employees for the company. “It’s always been our philosophy that if we train pilots in complex aircraft, the transition to heavier aircraft like the CRJ will be smoother,” said Donley Watkins, the program’s Chief Flight Instructor. “Graduates who are hired will most likely go to a CRJ or ERJ with the company,” Watkins added, “and they will get some advance training here on campus in a CRJ flight training device (FTD). They receive 20 hours in the right seat, 20 in the left and are typically trained by Mesa line pilots. This gives them a huge edge in success, knowing what to expect at the company.” “The difference in the training environment is that we’re teaching these pilots to think in terms of responsibility that they will have at the airline. Our pilots are being specifically trained for Mesa -- they work with checklists, callouts and Mesa’s protocols from the beginning. Being prepared for the airline environment translates to a level of success in the company’s ground schools and flight training – one that Mesa has come to expect”, said Watkins, “it’s a lot of fun but a lot of responsibility for a pilot to move to an airline”.Located in the northwest corner of the state, Farmington, New Mexico covers 5,560 square miles -- an area larger than the entire state of Connecticut. Fertile river valleys surrounded by high desert, rolling plateaus, mesas, and mountain ranges make the area an ideal place to conduct flight training. An average of 273 sunny days per year means that year round outdoor activities and training are not generally interrupted by inclement weather.“San Juan College and Mesa Pilot Development have produced over 1800 commercial pilots since 1989”, said Dr. Carol J. Spencer, current San Juan College president, “We take pride in that tradition.” “We’ve never deviated from our philosophy to secure good employee potential for the company”, said Shropshire. “We go through an extensive interview process to eliminate problems that would preclude a pilot’s ability to be hired at the airline. We don’t want people spending their money if their driving record doesn’t reflect someone who can follow rules, for example. We’re training people to become top-notch employees as well as well-trained pilots. “Many of them now fly for major carriers such as Southwest Airlines, United, U S Airways, and Alaska”, added Shropshire, “its rewarding to see the pilots out there who got their start here in Farmington at San Juan College.” Mesa operates more than 1100 daily departures to 184 cities in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico in partnerships with Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and U S Airways. Jonathan Ornstein, Chairman and CEO for Mesa Air Group, stated “This world class pilot training program continues to provide outstanding opportunities for young men and women to access an exciting career in the airline industry. Many graduates of MPD’s first-class training program are selected to join Mesa Air Group as First Officers where steady growth has provided many an early opportunity for command.” Pilots and students looking for a career with the airlines should take special note of the San Juan College/Mesa advantage, especially in light of recent pilot shortages and other changes within the industry. San Juan College offers financial aid for both the Primary and PACE programs to qualified applicants. For further information visit our website at www.flightcareers.com or give us a call 1.800-232-6327. Your Wings Are Waiting!
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