Saint Vincent College relaunches program in aviation management

When Leo Sun of Latrobe was the tender age of 6, he wanted to fly airplanes. He was interested in watching shows about air crash investigations rather than cartoons.

Now 18, the Saint Vincent College student is getting that opportunity and is working his way toward that treasured license as a student of the college’s aviation management program.

The Greater Latrobe High School graduate is part of the first class of 13 students in the first year of the resurrected aviation manager.

“All the resources are right close by,” Sun said. “It’s possible to do the flying across the street (Route 30) from the college.”

At another school, the students might have to drive 40 to 50 miles to get to the airport, Sun said.

The college in Unity is relaunching its aviation program. It had one around 1928, which initiated the nation’s first collegiate pilot program, said Michael J. Urick, a professor who directs the aviation management program. He also is dean of the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government.

College officials had been discussing reviving the aviation management program since early last year, Urick said.

“It seemed like the right time to do it,” Urick said.

The first aviation management program at the college started with a grass field at the college where Rooney Hall now stands above the school’s Chuck Noll Field. It continued through World War II and possibly into the 1960s, Urick said.

In the 21st-century version of the aviation management program, students are able to get the hours needed to obtain their pilot’s license while earning a bachelor’s degree.

Word of the aviation management program spread among alumni and many have called about entering the program next fall, Urick said. As of now, Urick said the program’s capacity is 20 students.

To get the students up in the air with certified instructors, the college has partnered with the Laurel Highlands Aeronautical Academy, a pilot training school based at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. It is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a flight school and ground school, said James R. Arnold, a veteran pilot and flight school administrator.

“This (aviation management program) could be a really strong driver for the community and the region,” Arnold said.

Saint Vincent also is partnering with the Community College of Beaver County’s James M. Johnson School of Aviation Sciences for the ground course segment in a virtual manner. CCBC’s reputation is such that it also partners with Geneva College in Beaver Falls.

The students have the advantage of being close to an airport, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport along Route 981, with the airport-based Laurel Highlands Aeronautical Academy that teaches students how to fly.

There’s an added bonus to flying around central and eastern Westmoreland County, said James R. Arnold, the administrator of the school.

Good salary

For the Saint Vincent students who want to fly planes, the future is bright in terms of job opportunities and salary.

The good news in terms of job security for students graduating from the Saint Vincent program is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that overall employment of airline and commercial pilots is projected to grow by 5% from 2023 to 2033. Growth in part is the result of the FAA’s mandatory retirement age of 65 for pilots of carriers, but they are permitted to continue to work as flight engineers.

The federal government is projecting an average of 18,500 openings for airline and commercial pilots each year over that 10-year span, the Labor Statistics bureau said. Many of those openings likely will be created by the need to replace pilots who transfer to different occupations or leave the labor force, such as retirement.

Those who want to remain in Pennsylvania can be part of a job market that had 3,820 airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers, according to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report of May 2023.

The median salary for pilots and co-pilots for commercial transportation companies and the airlines was a little more than $170,000 last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook. The airlines offer better pay, with the median annual salary for airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers at close to $220,000 , compared to about $113,000 for commercial pilots, the labor statistics bureau stated in its May 2023 report.

For those airline pilots who make a career of flying the friendly skies, their salary when they retire their captain’s wings typically will be around $400,000, Arnold said. The major airlines want pilots with a bachelor’s degree.

The advantage of students going through the aviation management program is that they can obtain their pilot’s license, but also have the business degree to fall back upon so they can work in that segment of the industry, Urick said.

That can mean giving the students the knowledge of the business, where economics is so important in terms of expenses, such as how to save fuel on its flights.

“It sets you up for a really good job in knowing how that aircraft operates in an economic world,” Arnold said.