Flight School Program Discontinued at Jackson College

JACKSON, MI -- Jackson College discontinued its aviation program at the start of August, college officials confirmed Thursday.

The program ended Aug. 1 after the college’s partnership with Ann Arbor-based Solo Aviation ended without a contract renewal, Jackson College Vice President Cindy Allen said.

Enrollment in the program has fallen since 9/11, Allen said. She estimates that less than five students listed the program as their area of study, adding the college will help those students transfer to four-year degree programs elsewhere in the state, like those offered at Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan universities.

Jackson College’s program only offered basic instruction that leads to a private pilot license, according to its website. A commercial license is required for a career in aviation. Other universities in the state offer those programs.

The college entered a partnership with Solo Aviation several years prior, in which the group assumed responsibility for flight activities, bought and maintained the college’s fleet at the Jackson County Airport and was responsible for in-air instruction, Allen said. The college employed a faculty member to teach the ground-based lessons.

“We’ve looked at this for probably the last 20 years, as far as if this makes sense to do,” Allen said. “It was a bigger deal, because the airport was counting our takeoff and landings as part of their ability to keep their tower, but I think now it’s just been less and less. It isn’t the program that it used to be.”

Allen said the program was already in jeopardy before the novel coronavirus pandemic’s arrival in March, which has caused financial downfall for other educational institutions and businesses.

The college purchased its hanger at the airport and began offering lessons there in 1979.

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