Atlantic Aviation, a flight school in Jacksonville, Fla., has agreed to acquire A-Cent Aviation at the Colorado Springs Airport later this month to allow Atlantic to expand into flight training for foreign students and those receiving U.S. Veterans Administration benefits.
Atlantic, a unit of Quasar Aerospace Industries Inc., will pay nearly $120,000 for the flight school at 1947 Aviation Way that is now owned by Mike and Alice Hogan. Atlantic will retain all of A- Cent's five instructors at its current location and will add two aircraft to the four now used by A-Cent to train its students, which currently number about 20, said Kim Skinner, daughter of the Hogans, who is helping her parents complete the sale. The Hogans started A- Cent in 2001 and are selling the school for health reasons, Skinner said.
"My parents put so much into this school, they wanted to ensure it continued. We selected this buyer because they agreed to continue operating the company under the same principles under which it was founded: honesty, integrity and a passion for aviation," Skinner said.
The pending sale has allowed Atlantic to start an A-Cent school at Herlong Airport in Jacksonville, where it will offer training to foreign students and those using VA benefits, said Bill Cirmo, Atlantic's director of operations. A-Cent is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to offer such training; Atlantic sought the same certification in 2009, but wasn't expected to gain approval for another year; in addition, VA eligibility for the school would have taken another two years, Cirmo said.
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