A priority-hiring agreement means Great Lakes Aviation will look first at graduates of the Metropolitan State University of Denver aviation program to fill pilot openings.
The school and the Cheyenne-based regional carrier on Wednesday announced the partnership that guarantees interviews during twice annual on-campus career fairs to grads and seniors who meet hiring criteria.
The agreement directly addresses pilot shortages that are expected to affect regional airlines in particular, Metro State said in a news release.
Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration in 2013 — in response to the 2009 Colgan Air plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people — increased certification requirements to 1,500 hours from 250 for first officers of U.S. passenger and cargo airplanes.
This means regional pilots with plenty of flight time have become appealing hiring targets for the major carriers.
Metro State in August launched a joint program with Colorado Northwestern Community College that allows students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Denver to spend summers or semesters taking flight training in Rangely. The idea is to help aspiring pilots rack up enough hours to qualify for work by the time they graduate.
Over the years, Great Lakes has hired many Metro State grads, including the airline’s chief pilot, Brent Rollins.
Metro State’s program produces “great, quality pilots,” Great Lakes CEO Chuck Howell said. “It is nice to have someone local. Being in Denver allows us the ability to also reverse-interview, or screen, with their current facility.”
Airline hiring officers can watch students “fly” in a Metro State flight simulator that approximates piloting the Beechcraft 1900D aircraft, which is part of the Great Lakes fleet, Howell said. The airline, which has hub operations at Denver International Airport, also flies the Embraer EMB-120.
“(Metro State) specializes in training pilots to operate in the types of aircraft and flight environment that Great Lakes pilots typically experience,” Aviation and Aerospace Department chairman Jeffrey Forrest said in a news release.
Metro State has one of the largest undergraduate collegiate aviation programs in the U.S., and its Robert K. Mock World Indoor Airport also includes aerospace computer and flight simulator training laboratories.
Aviation and aerospace science professor Kevin Kuhlmann said the Metro State grads who are working as pilots for Great Lakes fly into little airports, big airports, through all kinds of weather and mostly hand-fly, rather than using automated systems.
“They become thinking pilots,” Kuhlmann said. “Great Lakes is just an awesome building-block position because you fly into a lot of small airports, do a lot of hands-on flying, and it really gets your skills and your experience cemented.”
When they apply at the major carriers, such as United and Delta, they have the background required to make the transition, he said.
“I think it is a wonderful stepping stone for the students with the constantly undulating regulatory requirements,” he said. “It keeps them in the game. It keeps them a step ahead.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
On the hunt?
Great Lakes Aviation anticipates continuous hiring to maintain its pool of more than 100 pilots. The airline will hold its first of two annual interviews at Metropolitan State University of Denver on Friday.
Graduates and seniors who have a multicommercial pilot certificate and instrument rating, have completed a specific turboprop flight simulation course and maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA and a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA in aviation courses are eligible to participate.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27277892/deal-great-lakes-gives-metro-pilot-program-grads