Southern Illinois University has committed to expanding its pilot-training program to Springfield, enabling future aviators to earn bachelor's degrees without leaving the capital city, SIU President Daniel Mahony told Illinois Times.
"Aviation is one of our most popular programs, but because of the space issues we have (in Carbondale) we really can't expand that program. So, it seemed like something that would be beneficial to Springfield, but also allow us to expand the program in ways we would like to," Mahony said.
There have been intermittent, behind-the scenes discussions for several years on creating an SIU pilot training program at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport. But on Aug. 20, the Springfield Airport Authority Board of Commissioners took its first public action when it voted to spend $480,000 to renovate a building to accommodate teaching.
Mahony, who lives in Springfield, took the helm of SIU in December 2019.
"There had been some talk of this pre-COVID ... a year ago, we really got down and restarted that conversation," he said.
Frank Vala, chair of the Airport Authority, said it is to the community's advantage having Mahony living in Springfield.
Airport Director Mark Hanna said the program will likely launch in the fall semester of 2025.
Hanna noted that there is a national shortage of pilots, which is causing major airlines to cut service to many medium and smaller communities. Last year, United Airlines eliminated its Springfield service, and Hanna said the aviation school may help regain service.
"It puts us in kind of a good stead with the airlines," he said. "We know that United and some of the bigger airlines have relationships with SIU and they can say, 'Hey, Springfield is trying to help us.' When we do air service recruiting, we're also part of the solution. ... We can say, 'We're doing flight training to help support their cadre of pilots.'"
Hanna said the airport first made overtures to SIU in 2016. But he said the idea gained momentum when Mahony took the top spot at SIU, which has campuses in Carbondale and Edwardsville as well as a medical school in Springfield.
He said airport, university, economic development and local government officials worked together.
"There's been a community-wide collaboration – people have been working for the same goal, and that is to bring flight training to Springfield," Hanna said. "Activity breeds activity. When you have flight training, there's more fuel being sold. ... Our aircraft controllers are getting more operations to manage. There's more opportunity for maybe someone to again, open a restaurant. There will be more people at the airport over the lunch hour.
"We talk about education and growing this in concert with the med school. And there's always been conversations about perhaps (an SIU) policy or law school satellite up here in Springfield as well."
Robert Morgan, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at SIU, said the university plans to partner with Lincoln Land Community College. Springfield students would take their first two years of college classes there and their final two at SIU's airport facility.
"We're going to start with about three employees: a chief flight instructor and then one or two assistant flight instructors, and then we'll build up," he said. "So, we would be looking initially at 10 to 15 students. And as we increase our student enrollment, we would increase our faculty."
Initially, two airplanes would be assigned to Springfield for the training, Morgan said.
When the program is fully built out, it will likely have 60 to 80 students and about 13 SIU employees. Just what timeframe it will take for the program to reach its zenith remains to be seen, he said.
While the fall of 2025 remains the target for the program's launch in Springfield, there are several bureaucratic hurdles that must first be crossed, including approval by the Illinois State Board of Education, Morgan said.
Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher said, "I think it is a wonderful thing for Springfield. President Mahony is very, very involved in our community and I'm thankful for his presence in our community through SIU. There is a shortage of pilots, which started during COVID and continued. So, adding to their flight school is going to be important for our entire nation. But the fact that we're – for the first time – going to have an aviation school in Springfield is very cool."
Scott Reeder, a staff writer for Illinois Times, can be reached at [email protected].
