Over 120 Students Enrolled in ACT

Coast Flight’s Airline Career Training (ACT) Program has been rapidly growing in size since its inception in August 2014. The ACT program currently has 120 actively training students, and is excited to welcome another 15 who will start in late February. The program offers participants the opportunity to earn an accredited, FAA-approved Associate’s Degree from Indian Hills Community College. Indian Hills has been ranked in the top 10 percent of community colleges in the nation, and offers online courses for ACT students to take classes while flight training in beautiful San Diego, CA.

The degree in Aviation Pilot Training can be completed while students are building their hours for their next flight rating. Once students have completed the required flight ratings, they may work as a Commercial Pilot with one of our airline partners, and continue to finish their studies online from wherever their flights may take them.

ACT student Danny Perez shared, “This offer allows us the opportunity to gain a degree and flight train at the same time, which makes the process of obtaining a job in the airline industry much quicker. The online classes make it easy for me to keep my daily schedule and study around it. ACT has also made it easy to meet and fly with my peers. Indian Hills Community College is constantly ranked amongst the top community colleges in the nation, which lets me know I am getting a great education while I train.”

When the ACT program was first introduced, Coast was quick to make sure that they not only had a college partner to offer an online degree, but also airline partners who would help students make connections and jumpstart their careers in the airline industry. Coast has two partner airlines who allow students to join pipeline programs to becoming airline pilots. SkyWest Airlines has given all ACT students a conditional offer of employment prior to flight training in the ACT Program. Envoy Air, an American Airlines subsidiary, holds interviews with ACT students upon completion of their Instrument Rating certificate. If an ACT student is selected by Envoy, they will have a guaranteed position as a pilot at American Airlines.

Will Dryden founded Coast Flight in 2008 and shared, “When I started the company, I always knew that combining professionalism and fun would result in the best pilots. Our job was to encourage each student’s passion for aviation to surface while we molded the best professional aviators! The idea was Over 120 Students Enrolled in ACT always to help people realize their passion for flight and start exploring the sky. We now have partnerships with two of the largest regional airlines in the United States, who represent almost 6,000 pilots, and a top rated school, which I could not be more excited about.”

The ACT Program also offers incentives for veterans, accepting up to 100% coverage for the program costs from the Post-9/11 GI Bill after Private Pilot. If students don’t have military benefits, they can get up to 100% financing and have advisors to help figure out how to make their dreams a reality.

“The ACT Program is a truly unique opportunity for our students.” added Coast’s President, Bryan Simmons, “They can get a job offer before ever starting flight training. Students also have the ability to expedite their training and degree, and get to live in the best city for flight training. Sunny San Diego allows our students to train on a more regular basis, which helps get them their ratings faster. The ultimate goal is to help them reach a career as an airline pilot, and we are happy to see that this goal is being achieved with over 120 students now in the program and well on their way to professional pilot careers.”

Pictured: Coast CFI Kristen Verdi now flying for SkyWest Airlines!