Sept. 27, 2019
The Aspen Flight Academy in Aspen, CO, is launching “Every Student Flies,” a youth aviation education program that will provide a free flight lesson to the 556 enrolled students at the Aspen Public High School.
“We are excited to launch this one-of-a-kind program to offer every Aspen High School student the chance to experience flight and learn about careers in aviation,” said Capt. Michael Pearce, president of the Aspen Flight Academy’s Board of Directors and an international Boeing 777 airline pilot. “Our hope is that other public high schools across the country will be excited about our program and look into doing the same in their communities.”
Each student will be offered a free flight lesson with an FAA-certified flight instructor, a private tour of the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport’s (ASE) air traffic control tower and tours of local aviation companies on the airfield. Additionally, students will receive information on higher education and career opportunities in all fields of aviation including piloting, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance, airport management and more.
“This program is unique in that we are able to offer these experiences to public high school students at no cost to their families,” said Kate Short, director of aviation at the Aspen School District. “In addition to the free flight, we offer three aviation courses at Aspen High School to provide interested students even greater knowledge towards a future career in aviation”.
Business aviation is a major employer in the United States, supporting more than 1 million jobs ranging from pilots and flight technicians to manufacturing and schedulers.
Free flights are also being offered to the school’s teachers and administrative staff, to enable them to share the experience of flying in a small aircraft with their students. The Aspen Flight Academy, Aspen Education Foundation, Aspen School District and The BettyFlies Foundation joined forces to make this initiative a reality.
Learn about the Aspen Flight Academy.
