May 22—Coe College President David Hayes speaks Wednesday during a ceremony announcing a new aviation management program available through Coe College at The Eastern Iowa Airport in southwest Cedar Rapids. In partnership with Revv Aviation and The Eastern Iowa Airport, Coe College is opening a flight school and aviation management program. ( Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS — On the wings of a pilot and aviation staffing shortage threatening aircraft, airlines and the flights they schedule, Coe College is stepping into the flight school crunch in collaboration with The Eastern Iowa Airport.
Having submitted an application this week to the Higher Learning Commission, Coe aims by fall 2025 — or sooner, depending on demand and approvals — to start offering a flight school and aviation management program out of its Stead Department of Business Administration and Economics.
Students who enroll in the program can complete certification to become a professional pilot within Coe's new aviation management concentration, or forego the flight school portion and take classes preparing them for non-flying roles in the aviation industry.
" Cedar Rapids has a rich aviation history, from global and national companies that lead the way in aerospace businesses, to the Wright brothers living here during their early days in their childhood, to the ongoing and dynamic airport expansion," Coe President David Hayes said Wednesday during an event to unveil the program and partnership. "There is no better place to build an aviation management curriculum and a commercial pilot flight school."
In addition to partnering with The Eastern Iowa Airport, the Cedar Rapids college has tapped Revv Aviation to run the flight school portion. Revv — a Council Bluffs-based business that started using its current name in 2022 but was founded in 1997 under "aviation pioneers" like Roy Carver Sr. and Roy Carver Jr. — has more than 100 employees in 11 locations, including four in Iowa, three in Illinois and one in Nebraska.
Its Council Bluffs location — similar to its new Cedar Rapids collaboration — partners with the University of Nebraska-Omaha's Aviation Institute, which offers a bachelor of science in aviation with a concentration in professional flight.
Revv Aviation Vice President of Flight Training & Chief Instructor Jerome Howard speaks Wednesday during a ceremony announcing a new aviation management program available through Coe College at The Eastern Iowa Airport in southwest Cedar Rapids. ( Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Revv — with services including flying lessons, plane maintenance and charter flights — has produced more than 3,000 flight school graduates over its education tenure.
Courses in Coe's new aviation management program will be taught both on its main campus and at its dedicated aeronautical field station operated out of the airport.
"The college is taking the steps necessary to establish a flight school based right here at CID, in the very hangar we're standing in and celebrating today," Hayes said of the program, which has been years in the making — following lengthy conversations between the partners involved.
"This work sets up our intention to offer the flight school and aviation management courses beginning of fall of 2025," Hayes said. "However, considering the acute commercial pilot shortage, and subject to receiving the necessary accreditation approvals, we are positioned to be able to initiate the program on an accelerated time frame."
Coe Business Administration & Economics faculty will lead it, alongside Revv instructors.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O'Donnell speaks Wednesday during a ceremony announcing a new aviation management program available through Coe College at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. In partnership with Revv Aviation and The Eastern Iowa Airport, Coe College is opening a flight school and aviation management program. Those interested in becoming a professional pilot can complete their certification while enrolled as students within Coe's new aviation management concentration. ( Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
"It's wonderful to be partnering with one of Cedar Rapids' original and foundational institutions — Coe College, with over 170 years in Cedar Rapids educating tomorrow's workforce, while also attracting national and international students to the corridor," airport Director Marty Lenss said. "This announcement is very exciting for the airport, the community, the region and really the aviation industry."
The need
The Eastern Iowa Airport Director Marty Lenss speaks Wednesday during a ceremony announcing a new aviation management program available through Coe College. "This announcement is very exciting for the airport, the community, the region and really the aviation industry," Lenss said. ( Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
The aviator shortage in the United States has created a 17,000-pilot gap that's expected to grow as more than half of current commercial pilots are older than 50 and facing a looming retirement age mandate of 65.
The starting pay for most pilots is near $90,000 a year, with seasoned pilots earning $400,000 or more flying passenger jets with major airlines.
Students who complete the new Coe program could walk away with Federal Aviation Administration pilot certification and a bachelor of arts degree in business administration, with a concentration in aviation management, "which is preferred by major carriers and creates higher earning and career promotion potential."
"The career earnings wage premium for pilots with a four-year degree is significant," according to Coe materials promoting the program, adding, "After earning your license, you could potentially be employed to serve as a flight instructor, gaining both a paycheck and knocking out qualifying hours without cost."
A Coe donor is investing $200,000 to jump-start the initiative, and the college is pursuing additional federal funding — in collaboration with the airport.
Tuition for the bachelor's in business administration with a concentration in aviation management is the same as it is for all Coe bachelor degrees. But, officials said, students pursuing the flight school portion "will accrue additional costs" that officials said are "still being determined."
The program is designed to be completed in four years, and Coe expects to hire additional faculty as needed to support program demands. Although Coe doesn't have a cohort of students lined up just yet, officials said demand is "significant."
Revv Aviation interns Brent Mueller and Kylee Horstman look at the instrument panel of a training aircraft during a ceremony Wednesday announcing a new aviation management program available through Coe College at The Eastern Iowa Airport. ( Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Nationally, the number of active student pilot certificates swelled from 119,120 in 2010 to 222,630 in 2020, according to the FAA. "The interest has continued on an upward trajectory, as student pilot certificates were up 24 percent in 2023 compared to 2022," a Coe spokesman told The Gazette.
Opportunities to network
Given The Eastern Iowa Airport is in its final phase of a modernization adding 32,000 square feet and four more jet bridges, students enrolled in the program will benefit from site upgrades — including exclusive use of a hangar and office space on airport grounds — and increasing opportunities to network within the industry.
"The partnership with CID is a perfect match," President Hayes said. "With the ongoing modernization, students and faculty will utilize top-notch facilities."
Coe, as part of its flight-school portion of the program, is seeking "Part 141 certification" with the FAA. Such flight schools are required to use a "structured training program and syllabus" — including a variety of training aids, facilities, flight instructor oversight and FAA-approved course curricula.
Although Coe is not the first to offer a program of this kind in the state or region, officials said it offers unique internship and networking possibilities "due to traffic volume at Iowa's second-largest airport."
It also expands on the airport's educational campus, which includes Kirkwood Community College's aviation maintenance technology program — which last year received FAA approval.
How to apply
Prospective students can contact Coe College's Office of Admission at (319) 399-8500 or [email protected] for more information.
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; [email protected]
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