Students entering the Aviation Technology Program at Sinclair Community College will be met with a long runway and will need vision and determination before take-off, but the skies are opening up in several aviation-related career fields.
Kent Wingate, chairman of the Aviation Technology Department, said the department’s mission is to train students in the world of aviation, with the goal of helping students continue their education in four-year universities and obtain employment.
He said job prospects in the field of aviation are looking up with the Federal Aviation Administration concurring with Airbus and Boeing projections that over one million aviation professionals will be needed in the future. This includes pilots, mechanics, dispatchers and flight attendants.
He added that this increase is fueled by current and expected rates of retirement and by the demand needed within the field to meet a steadily increasing flying population.
Wingate said these opportunities can be taken advantage of now, through training and education.
Sinclair offers associate degrees in Aviation Maintenance Technology, Aviation Technology/Professional Pilot and Airway Science.
Wingate said Aviation Maintenance Technology is extremely popular and that the program is growing with mechanically inclined students showing an interest in aviation and some aviation students simply wanting the ability to work on their own aircraft.
He also said there is a huge increase in the Professional Pilot and Airway Science Program. Which includes core aviation courses as well as electives as students receive their private pilot certificate and instrument rating, commercial certificate, multi-engine rating and certified flight instructor certificate.
With associate degrees in Aviation Technology, Wingate envisions students going on to four-year universities and earning bachelor’s degrees.
Sinclair holds an articulation agreement helping to facilitate the transfer of credits, with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, available online and with campuses in Florida, Arizona and satellite campuses in Fairborn, Ohio.
Wingate said the hopes for large salaries are not the driving force behind student interest.
“It’s called ‘desire,’” he said. “It’s a long road. It’s a hard road, but like I tell students, ‘If that’s what you want to do, you’re going to do what you have to do.’”
Sinclair also offers a one-year technical certificate in Airframe Aviation Maintenance, as well as, short-term technical certificates in Aircraft Dispatcher, Airline Flight Attendant, General Aviation Maintenance, Power plant Aviation Maintenance and Unmanned Aerial Systems.
Wingate said although Sinclair cannot grant Federal Aviation Administration Certification, skills and training obtained at Sinclair helps to prepare students for Federal Aviation Administration written, oral and practical exams.
Wingate said the Aviation Department has a fairly small, tight-knit student population and that networking is stressed to be hugely beneficial to success.
Donna Hanshew, associate professor within the Sinclair Aviation Technology Department, recalled a U.S. Airways Express flight, in which her co-pilot and two flight attendants were Sinclair graduates.
“It’s a great success, especially having three of them on one flight,” Hanshew said. “That company (PSA Airlines) hires a lot of our students and I keep in touch with a lot of the students that are up there.”
Caleb Lithander, who graduated with an associate degree in Aviation Technology in 2009 and is currently an Air Traffic Controller at Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center, said his experience studying at Sinclair was beneficial to his success pursuing his dream job.
“Sinclair is a great step and there’s a lot of value in the school,” said Lithander. “There are a lot of instructors there who care a lot about the students and their future. And it’s a great, inexpensive way to start doing what you want to do.”