Addison-based Thrust Flight, a provider of aviation training, teamed up with Hampton University in Virginia to teach the next generation of pilots.

A new aviation campus near Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport will be Thrust Flight’s first East Coast location, the company said. The campus will be home to Hampton’s aviation training program. It also will host Thrust Flight’s new Zero Time to Airline pilot training and aircraft maintenance programs, which will be available to the public.

“This partnership lets us bring our training model to a historic institution that’s serious about growing its aviation program,” former airline pilot Patrick Arnzen, CEO of Thrust Flight, said in a statement. “Hampton University has a clear vision for where it wants this program to go, and we built this agreement to get them there, starting with flight training now and moving toward their own certificate [program] down the road.”

Addressing the pilot shortage

The Thrust Flight-Hampton partnership comes at a time when the country faces a shortage of airline pilots.

Aeronautics Magazine reported the U.S. airline industry faces a shortfall of 24,000 qualified pilots this year as more pilots hit the federal government’s mandatory retirement age, 65. The early retirement of pilots during the Covid-19 pandemic aggravated the shortage.

Thrust Flight and Hampton said they will tackle the shortage in two ways.

First, Thrust Flight will act as Hampton’s authorized provider of pilot training. Second, the company will help the university pursue a pilot-school certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Hampton retains ownership of the degree program, curriculum, accreditation and admissions. Thrust Flight provides the aircraft and certificated instructors and runs day-to-day training operations.

“Hampton University has trained generations of leaders, and now we’re giving our aviation students a direct runway into the cockpit,” Joyce Shirazi, dean of Hampton’s School of Engineering, Architecture and Aviation, said in the statement.

“This partnership means our students can complete rigorous, industry-aligned flight training without ever leaving their academic home, and it sets us on a path toward operating our own certified flight school in the years ahead,” Shirazi said.

More programs in Virginia, Texas and Arizona

In tandem with the Hampton announcement, Thrust Flight said it established a flagship location in Virginia for its new Zero Time to Airline pilot training program. The program lets students without flight experience complete training in 12 to 18 months on Piper Archer and Piper Seminole aircraft.

Thrust Flight said many of its graduates enter the workforce through partnerships with regional airlines such as SkyWest Airlines and Envoy Air. Envoy is a subsidiary of Fort Worth-based American Airlines that flies under the American Eagle banner, as does SkyWest.

Thrust Flight also offers a mechanic training program. [Photo: Thrust Flight]

The Virginia campus also will house Thrust Flight’s Aircraft & Powerplant Mechanic School. Students can earn an FAA certificate to work as an airframe or powerplant mechanic in 10 to 12 months.

The FAA’s aviation mechanic certificate features two ratings: airframe and powerplant. A mechanic can earn certification in either or both specialties.

An airframe mechanic repairs and maintains the body, wings, landing gear, brakes and physical systems of an aircraft. A powerplant mechanic overhauls, tests and maintains turbine engines and propellers.

Elsewhere, Thrust Flight trains pilots, aircraft mechanics and flight dispatchers in Denison and Burleson; Conroe, near Houston; and Mesa, near Phoenix. The company also offers aerobatic flight training.

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