Hopes rise for landing aviation school in Houston
In what airport officials hope is a signal that Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University may locate a campus in Houston, the school recently conducted training in Houston for 30 Chinese aviation officials.
The airport management officials toured Houston and its airports last week as part of a four-day session by Embry-Riddle in conjunction with the Houston Airport System.
The university has offered the training program since 2006 for aviation officials from China, but last week's session was the first outside Embry-Riddle's Daytona, Fla., campus.
Residential campus
The university has hired a consulting firm to help it determine whether to open a $50 million residential campus at Ellington Airport. Besides Daytona, the school runs a residential campus in Prescott, Ariz., and 158 smaller campuses worldwide including one on Space Center Boulevard.
The delegation visited an air-cargo warehouse, car rental companies and concession stands at Bush Intercontinental Airport, studied plane refueling operations and learned about green energy alternatives at Johnson Space Center.
At Hobby Airport, a Chinese interpreter used a megaphone to translate as Robert Lee, Million Air's general manager, led a tour of the company's hangar. Million Air caters to upscale charter companies.
'Fingers crossed'
While foreign airport officials routinely visit Houston's airports, officials hope the training last week is a sign that Embry-Riddle plans to commit to Ellington instead of the other finalist, Rockford, Ill.
"We keep our fingers crossed and hope Embry-Riddle will open a campus here," Houston Airport System Director Mario Diaz said.
Mark Friend, dean of academic affairs for Embry-Riddle's central region, said in an interview last week that the university has hired a consulting company to determine whether to open a major campus in the Houston area.
He also talked about why airport officials from China want additional training.
"The Chinese market is opening up in terms of aviation," he said. "I see this a growth toward freedom for all Chinese."
It's projected that China will need 5,000 new planes by 2030, Friend said.