LSUA welcomes potential students to open house to learn about aviation opportunities
Mattilla Wiley always wanted to get a college degree and a pilot's license and, after a major life change, she decided it was time to make those dreams a reality.
Wiley, 52, greeted people coming Thursday afternoon to the open house for Louisiana State University of Alexandria's Professional Aviation program, which began in spring 2022. She called the university's program "perfect" for her.
"It was time. I needed a change, and this was ideal for me."
Wiley, a Grant Parish resident in her second year in the program, changed her major from professional aviation to aviation management, which focuses on the business side of the field.
But that path still allows her to earn her pilot's license.
"The instructors are wonderful. You feel secure and safe in the cockpit with them," she said. "It's a lot of fun."
Mason Lambertsen was outside on the tarmac, exploring a Cessna parked among a few other planes for potential students to see. Just days before, the 12-year-old took a flight out of the Pineville Municipal Airport and wanted to come to the open house because he was so excited about flying.
Mason and some family members, including grandfather Doug Lambertsen, were with other homeschool students checking out the open house. He said he's not sure if he wants to become a pilot, but he's interested in trying simulators.
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Thursday's event at Million Air on England Airpark in Alexandria was the program's second open house, said Eamon Halpin, LSUA vice provost and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Potential students could come talk to Halpin and instructors from LSUA and its flight school partner, Gulf Coast Aviation. In addition, they could explore financial aid options, admissions, tour aircraft and learn about opportunities with fixed base operator Million Air.
Halpin said it was Million Air that approached LSUA about offering a degree program because of a national pilot shortage.
A 2022 report from Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm, stated the U.S. airline industry needs about 8,000 pilots, according to a CNBC article. The shortage could soar to 30,000 pilots by 2025, it said.
According to LSUA's website, the industry could need as many as 260,000 pilots over the next 10 years.
"They encouraged us to do this," said Halpin of Million Air.
But he said the idea for a smaller program that would let students get a private pilot's license already had been brewing at the university for a few years.
A deal was struck, so now LSUA students can earn a private license, a commercial license and learn aviation management. Halpin called it "the full deal" and said LSUA became just the second university in the state to offer an aviation program.
The other is at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, which Wednesday announced a partnership with Southwest Airlines.
Halpin said LSUA partnered with Gulf Coast Aviation so it could offer everything students need. He said students get classroom courses at LSUA, while Gulf Coast provides flight instruction.
He said some aviation courses that don't lead to a pilot's license also are offered, covering topics like weather, safety, air carrier operations.
"They're very focused classes. The ground courses are very focused," he said. "They're tied directly to flight instruction, but then you get this broader education in aviation."
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: LSUA hosts open house for people interested in its aviation program
