Want a career that's taking off? Try business aviation
Ohio colleges, including Sinclair, are training students to be corporate pilots
Sunday, December 14, 2008
MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — Ohio is pushing its colleges and universities to educate students for business aviation careers, responding to the expansion of private aircraft company NetJets Inc. at Columbus and increased interest from companies with their own planes.
Sinclair Community College, which has had success in sending graduates of its aviation technology program off to airlines as pilots, flight dispatchers and flight attendants, is responding by starting up an introductory business aviation course in January.
The Ohio Board of Regents is working with aviation or aviation support programs at Sinclair, Columbus State and Cincinnati State community colleges and at Ohio State, Ohio, Kent State and Bowling Green State universities, said Tom Fellrath, director of the regents' Ohio Skills Bank.
Business leaders told the regents' chancellor, Eric Fingerhut, that they see a need for specific programs to train students for business aviation.
Fingerhut sees it as one way Ohio can help build a job market within the state for its college graduates and begin to stem the tide of Ohio-educated students who move out of state to start careers, Fellrath said.
"We would love to see them achieve their career goals here in Ohio," Fellrath said. The Board of Regents is also pushing development of more programs to train students for health care careers, he said.
The business aviation job market is slowing down as the recession takes hold, but baby-boomer retirements in the industry continue to create openings, said Steve Brown, the National Business Aviation Association's vice president for operations.
Some current and former Sinclair aviation students are already taking advantage of the opportunities in managing and flying airplanes for business executives who see the aircraft as a convenient way to more efficiently manage travel, and to squeeze in midair meetings en route to visit clients or employees.
Jamie Thomas, 28, of Centerville, graduated from Sinclair in 2002 and later received a four-year degree in management and leadership from Wright State University. In 2003, Beavercreek entrepreneur Raj Soin hired him to fly and oversee the corporate aircraft used by Soin's companies.
Two years ago, Thomas also started his own company, Maximum Flight Advantages LLC, to buy, sell and manage aircraft for business. He advises students considering a business aviation career to get a well-rounded background in mathematics, science and business courses.
"I've spent hours going through a purchase agreement that's two inches thick," Thomas said.
Beyond simply flying a plane, a corporate pilot may have to be directly involved in the plane's maintenance and fueling, and see to it that VIP business passengers' needs, including food, drink and ground transportation, are addressed.
"You're dealing with top executives. Everything has to look sharp," said Shawn Riffee, 23, of Miamisburg, a Sinclair student who has a side job flying corporate aircraft. "It's all about image."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or
jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
