MU President Outlines Flight School Growth to Airport Board Members

Sep. 28—As Marshall University's commercial pilot bachelor's degree program enters its second year, plans are already in the works to build a second hangar to accommodate its growing fleet of training aircraft and to launch a new cycle of student pilot training during the 2023 spring semester.

"We see a real opportunity for growth in our aviation division," Marshall President Brad D. Smith told members of the West Virginia International Yeager Airport board during a presentation Wednesday at MU's Bill Noe Flight School, located at the Charleston airport's general aviation area.

"We're seeing such demand for our program here that we added a fifth plane to our training fleet last week, with a sixth due to arrive here in November followed by three more in 2023," Smith said.

After beginning its first year of operation in August 2021 with two flight instructors, Marshall's commercial pilot bachelor's degree program now has nine flight instructors with a tenth to be added during October, Chief Flight Instructor Nancy Ritter told airport board members.

Currently, 59 students from seven states are enrolled in the program. So far, nine additional students have committed to start the program next spring, she said.

The Bill Noe Flight School will soon be offering several non-degree offerings, including refresher courses for non-professional pilots, Ritter said.

Airport director Dominique Ranieri said the design phase for the new MU hangar to augment the university's existing 12,000-square-foot hangar would get underway this fall, with construction likely to begin sometime next summer.

Rick Steelhammer can be reached at 304-348-5169 or [email protected].

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