Celebrating 50 Years Of Excellence: Nmc Aviation

Oct. 28, 2016

In 1967, a few Cessnas and a couple of small single-plane T-hangars at the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City gave Northwestern Michigan College’s aviation program its start. Today, the program is one of the bestregarded aviation schools in the country.

Alex Bloye, director of Aviation at NMC, is only the fourth program director in 50 years. He said the program’s beginnings were modest – limited to flight lessons – but quickly progressed. By the late ’70s, NMC Aviation moved from the starter hangars to its own facility with classrooms and, by 2000, moved all of its offices and classes to the Parsons Stulen M-TEC Building on the Aero Park campus.

Today, the NMC Aviation program boasts 16 aircraft, and the school sends up flights seven days a week, all part of their goal to maximize the accommodation of student schedules. "Last year, we flew 325 days out of the year," Bloye said. "98 percent of our students pursue four-year aviation degrees, and 90 percent of our students want to be professional career pilots. So we really want to make the planes available to them."

Professional pilot training is the main focus of the program, which includes general education courses in English, math, and science, plus specialized courses in weather, crew dynamics, flight maneuvers, instruments, and mechanics.

NMC Aviation students, who must pass a flight physical and be cleared to fly by the Transportation Security Administration, take courses for two years to earn an associate degree in aviation, which qualifies them as a certified commercial pilot. "The normal track after that is to then stay with us and teach as a flight instructor for two additional years," Bloye explained. "That allows new pilots to meet airline experience and federal flight-hour requirements, so it’s an investment of four years total. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires 1,500 hours; we have an exemption for 1,250 hours because of our high standards in training."

Now is an ideal time to pursue an aviation career, said Bloye. "Hiring in this industry hasn’t been this strong in decades," he said. "Lots of pilots are retiring, plus the global economy is stronger right now, too, so more people can afford to fly." And with the current pilot shortage in the U.S., especially in regional airports, opportunities abound; a TIME magazine article from earlier this year cited the RAA (Regional Airline Association) as confirming that the problem of pilot supply is "endemic" throughout the regional airline industry. Another article from Forbes pointed out that training is paramount in making sure aspiring pilots can afford enough schooling to meet safety and plane hour regulations; their outlook is that the industry will only yield two-thirds of the pilots needed to keep up with demand over the next 20 years. The results could be less flights available, higher fares, or both.

Bloye said that typically, NMC Aviation graduates start their careers with regional airlines like Skywest, Envoy, and ExpressJet; these jobs often lead to other opportunities with bigger companies or at more unusual locations. "We’ve had grads at every major airline in the world, including Delta, United, and Emirates," Bloye said. "We’ve also seen our pilots go into the Air Force and the Navy, become bush pilots in Alaska, and missionary pilots in South America."

A quick browse through online aviation message boards finds plenty of posts recommending NMC Aviation’s schooling to aspiring pilots from all over the world. Bloye said that the program succeeds for a number of reasons, but that the primary one is its people.

"We’ve been lucky to get the people we have, who want to join us to build the next generation of pilots," he said. "We have instructors who range from brand new pilots to people like Brian Bishop, who is a retired Air Force general and who was a U.S.A.F. Thunderbird. And our student advisor, Al Laursen, he’s a retired B-52 pilot who at one point was in charge of flight standards for the Air Force. These are the people who want to be here, living in Traverse City and working with our program, and they’re also some of the best, most high-caliber pilots in the world."

A sense of pride is another important component of the program. "We’ve always had a real camaraderie here, where each class just really falls in love with flying," Bloye said.

"It’s a kind of club they join. Then they go out into the world to fly, and they share their NMC experience with others." NMC Aviation will put its accomplishments on full display at its 50th anniversary gala, slated for October 2017, at NMC’s Hagerty Center.

"I’m really excited about our anniversary," Bloye said. "We’ll be showcasing highlights of our last 50 years, bringing in as many alumni as possible, and looking ahead to the next 50 years, in which I see a continuation of the excellence that is NMC Aviation. This place has a special place in my heart – and I think in the hearts of a lot of other pilots as well."

To learn more about NMC Aviation, visit nmc.edu/aviation or call 231-995-2911.