USU and SkyWest announce new career pathway program
On March 28 during the Aggie Aviation Career Conference, Utah State University and SkyWest Airlines announced a new partnership to provide a career pathway for USU students interested in aviation.
“We look for the best programs available and we look to connect with educational institutions that provide the best, because we’re looking to hire the best,” said Roy Glassey, the Director of Flight Ops and Chief Pilot of SkyWest Airlines. “The reputation of this university, the flight school, is a winner.”
The partnership opens up new opportunities for aviation students including access to mentorship, a pathway to being hired on at SkyWest through the cadet program, and a partial tuition reimbursement by the airline. USU is one of five schools in the nation to be accepted into the program.
“What it does is it is going to provide our students with tremendous opportunity and provide some funding in their pockets to help them to recoup the costs that they’ve invested in their program,” said Ken White, the Vice President and Dean of USU College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. “This is one of those days where it’s great to be a dean.”
The partnership gives students the opportunity to interview with SkyWest as a cadet. Once students involved in the cadet program have finished their initial operating training, they will receive an initial $15,000 tuition reimbursement from SkyWest.
This is the third year in a row that USU has held the Aggie Aviation Career Conference. During the conference, students met with representatives from various airlines and businesses in the aviation industry.
White said that all of the benefits from the aviation program and partnerships with groups such as SkyWest will put students “head and shoulders above their colleagues that are coming from other programs.”
According to Andreas Wesemann, the director of the professional pilot program at USU, the school and SkyWest have had a partnership for a number of years. However, the partnership did not include tuition reimbursement for students.
“Aviation is a very expensive program,” Wesemann said. “In addition to tuition and fees like you’d normally add for a college student, you add about $50,000 of flight fees over four to five years.”
Wesemann said that USU has had a similar partnership with Envoy Air for a number of years. According to Wesemann, the new program with SkyWest developed from the company’s desire to remain competitive, as well as an ongoing relationship between the school and the Utah- based airline.
“Well, obviously I’m going to say this because I work there but we do note that we are the best in the industry,” Glassey said. “We’re excited to be here, and we are excited about our partnership, and we are excited to be able to meet everybody.”