Delta ready to start undergrad aviation program
Nov. 15, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University's College of Aviation and Delta Air Lines are seeking scholarship applicants for the undergraduate portion of a Delta professional pilot program set to begin in May 2002.
In January of this year, Delta announced a $1.6 million dollar scholarship award to WMU's College of Aviation to increase the number of women and minorities training for flight positions with commercial air carriers. The scholarships fund enrollment in the college's International Pilot Training Centre, which features European-style ab initio flight-training programs approved by the FAA.
The Delta agreement has two phases. The first was for students who had already earned a bachelor's degree and who had little to no flight experience. After a series of tests and interviews, eight such students were chosen for each of two separate courses. Those 16 students are now enrolled at the college in intensive 14-month training programs, which are designed to turn students with little or no flight experience into multi-engine pilots with instrument and commercial ratings as well as jet skills developed through a capstone jet orientation course on the college's Boeing 737-400 flight training device.
The second phase of the Delta program is targeted at undergraduate students. Current WMU students, along with transfer students, are eligible to apply for the eight flight training scholarships available. Successful candidates will attend the same kind of intensive, 14-month flight training program.
Students who apply must be working on a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, but need not be studying aviation. Those applying should have little or no flight experience, have a current grade point average of at least 2.75 and be eligible to work in the United States. Candidates for the undergraduate scholarships will undergo a series of tests and interviews, which will take place during the early part of 2002.
Those students interested in applying for the scholarships can obtain an application from the College of Aviation Web site at <www.wmich.edu/aviation>. Students not currently attending WMU must also complete an application to the University and must submit all supporting documentation to the College of Aviation. Applications to WMU can be obtained online at <www.wmich.edu>.
For more information about the WMU/Delta Air Lines Undergraduate Program, contact Tony Dennis, director of recruitment and outreach for the WMU College of Aviation, by phone at (616) 964-4831 or by e-mail at <tony.dennis@wmich.edu>.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu