Look up in the sky...it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a plain bird...NO!. ...it's a CWU student flying a plane and you could be too!.

Central Washington University is one of the recognized best aviation schools on the West Coast and they are looking for the next generation of pilots for the 2021 fall quarter.

Central Washington University Aviation program chair, Peter Dittmer, says the only four-year aviation degree program in the Northwest has, "received the green light last summer to seek enrollments for 2021-22 in both Professional Pilot and Aviation Management degree tracks.  Fall registrations are now being accepted on the CWU Aviation website, and the deadline is March 15."

The program has 180 students operating out of Bowers Field located about two miles north of the Ellensburg campus. According to a CWU news release "The Federal Aviation Administration Part 141 program­ — the only accredited four-year institute in the Northwest — offers the restricted Airline Transport Pilot (R-ATP) certificate, plus state-of-the-art aircraft, simulation equipment, and a maintenance crew."

Director of Flight Operations Dan Petree, says that one of the program’s goals is to train enough new pilots to support the industry’s long-term needs. With hundreds of pilots aging out of the profession every year, CWU Aviation is doing its part to develop the next generation of commercial pilots.  "As its graduates can attest, the program boasts a nearly 90% job placement rate in the industry."

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