Town of Mount Olive to UMO students: Reach for the sky
By Steve Herring
Published in News on April 19, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Mount Olive Mayor Joe Scott cuts the ribbon Wednesday morning during the dedication ceremony for the Mount Olive Airport's $1.3 million hangar. A partnership between the airport, town of Mount Olive and the University of Mount Olive will work to develop a flight school at the airport.
MOUNT OLIVE -- A unique new program could soon be taking flight at Mount Olive's airport thanks to a partnership among the airport committee, town of Mount Olive and the University of Mount Olive.
The idea is to attract and promote a flight program at Yeager Field where university students could enroll and receive credit hours toward a four-year degree through any of the university's degree programs.
They would do so while earning aviation certificates that would prepare them to be commercial pilots.
Airport committee member Ray McDonald Jr. made the announcement during a Wednesday morning ribbon-cutting ceremony for the airport's new $1.3 million, 10,000-square-foot hangar.
The airport committee has sent out a request for proposals, and the first company is scheduled to be interviewed today.
Under the program, students would be able to enroll in the flight school, which will be administered by a third party, while simultaneously enrolling at the University of Mount Olive.
Qualifying students will be able to receive a four-year college degree and pilot certificates through the Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument (CFII) level. They would leave with the number of flight hours needed to go directly into the work force, McDonald said.
The university will grant successful candidates who complete training through the CFII level 25 percent of the number of credit hours they need in order to graduate with a four-year degree from the university.
Sitting next to the new hangar is the old maintenance hangar that still has a good purpose, McDonald said.
The airport committee came up with the idea of having a flight school and using the old hangar to house it.
Flight schools operate on a razor-thin margin and come and go, he said. The concern was how to keep that from happening, and that is where the university kind of stepped in, he said.
University officials suggested some type of joint venture, McDonald said.
"What we are looking for is an operator to come in," he said. "I don't know of any other place in the state like this."
There is a shortage of professional pilots, and there is a mandatory retirement age for airline pilots, McDonald said.
The goal is to have the program up and running by summer, he said.
The decision to build the hangar grew out of a meeting where former airport committee chairman Aaron Long talked about the need for the airport to grow, Mayor Joe Scott said.
The airport runway had just been repaved, and it was suggested that a new hangar be built, Scott said.
"It has been said that a mile of road will give you a mile, but a mile of runway will give you the world," Scott said. "That is true, and that is the vision in Mount Olive today.
"A vision needs to be more than a motto on a plaque hung somewhere. A clear vision drives and sets a course. A vision sets the strategy, and when communicated effectively pulls all of our stakeholders together in a common cause."
The hangar is a good example, he said.
"We now have a facility to help us grow and be competitive," he said. Approximately 10 aircraft, sometimes more are based at the airport, and the vision is to grow that number, Scott said.
With increased services the airport can help build a stronger tax base for the town and county and help bring manufacturing to the industrial park located across the Old Mount Olive Highway from the airport, he said.