New planes on tap for NMC aviation program

TRAVERSE CITY - Students in the Aviation Program at Northwestern Michigan College soon will have their hands on some of the latest aviation technology available.

The NMC Board of Trustees on Monday evening approved a fleet management contract that will provide a cost-effective way to maintain a modern fleet of single-engine Cessna planes. The contract is with Suburban Aviation, Inc. of Ottawa Lake, MI. Suburban Aviation is the assigned Cessna vendor for this region.

NMC's Aviation program recently completed an extensive external review by the University of North Dakota. As a result, the college has implemented changes throughout the program, from curriculum to software and fleet management.

NMC's fleet of aircraft has been as large as 20 planes, which was inefficient and expensive to operate. Under the new contract, NMC will purchase a smaller number of planes, which it will sell back to Suburban Aviation on a rotating basis. The core fleet size will range from three to six planes, based on projected flight hour loads.

NMC also owns or leases six other planes that are used for advanced training.

The "sale and buy-back" agreement will provide new planes for students, while reducing major operating expenditures for the college.

"This allows us to have the right number of modern planes for our students, in the most cost-effective manner possible," said Aaron Cook, Director of Aviation.

The planes will be funded with proceeds from the sale of some older planes from the NMC fleet, from institutional reserves, and from flight fees. The first plane will cost $254,500. Prices for additional planes, as well as the buy-back rates, are stipulated as part of the agreement.

NMC's Aviation program has been enjoying a resurgence this year. Two dozen students joined the program for the current semester, bringing the current enrollment to more than 100 students. Students also are on track to exceed a projected 6800 flight hours for this year.

NMC's Aviation program allows students to complete their training in two years, at a lower cost than most four-year institutions. This allows students to enter the workforce as pilots while they complete their bachelor's degree through NMC's University Center.

"The job market for pilots is easily the best I've seen in seven years," Cook said. NMC graduates are employed in regional airlines and corporate flight departments.

For more information, call Aaron Cook at 231-995-2914. Also, see 9&10 News video coverage (new window) of this story.