SPANISH FORK — A new flight school is set to open this fall in Spanish Fork.
The Flight-crew Lead Training Academy is expected to help solve the issue of student pilots waiting weeks or months to complete flight checks mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The academy's second location is designed to train pilots at a relatively fast pace, with students often graduating in 14 months.
Jason Clark, founder of Flight-crew Lead Training Academy, began his flight training school at 19 years old in 2012. At the time, Clark couldn't find any airlines that were ready to hire. Instead of joining an airline, he decided to buy ownership of an aircraft and help provide introductory flights for potential flight students via Groupon. His unorthodox approach paid off, with him selling hundreds of flights in the first 45 minutes.
The flights were a success, allowing potential pilots to experience flight in a hands-on way. His introductory flights began gaining extreme popularity, prompting Clark to hire another instructor and buy more aircraft. He sold 2,000 introductory flights quickly and began preparing to open a brick-and-mortar flight school.
Today, the academy has one location in Woods Cross and will soon open its second in Spanish Fork. Thanks to partnerships with airlines such as SkyWest and Contour Airlines, Clark said many graduates can secure jobs.
"We are able to build this beautiful world-class facility that we've been working on. … It's honestly one of the nicest dedicated flight schools in the entire country," Clark said. "We're going to have a restaurant, coffee shop and everything dedicated for aviation training."
The campus will also include a park, pavilion and running track. On location, the staff can provide the mandatory checks on demand, eliminating the long turnaround time for flight school.
"We just achieved examining authority from the FAA, which is an extremely high gold standard to hit as a flight school. We never thought we would get here," Clark said. "When we do the checks in-house, we can get through the flow much quicker."
The goal of the training process allows pilots to get as much real-world experience as possible while also solving a larger problem in the aviation industry.
"There's going to be a huge pilot shortage in the next several years. There is a massive deficit of how many pilots are being trained and how many pilots are going to be retiring," Clark said. "We're really ramping up and preparing to produce as many pilots as we possibly can. We just purchased a whole new fleet of aircraft, too, so we can help ramp up for this."
The flight school also has various financing opportunities to help students complete their training and Clark said its 90-96% graduation rate stands as a testament to the expedited process.
"It's amazing how many lives this program has changed. … The difference that our flight school has made economically in Utah has been amazing," Clark said. "To train the next generation of pilots is so important. It's amazing how much we rely on aviation for just about everything. Training the next generation of pilots to truly have a passion in aviation is what's going to sustain the quality of aviation going into the future."
Additionally, the state has been making a large push to have Utah aviation-ready for the upcoming Olympic Games in 2034. Smaller airports, called vertiports, are being planned in Utah, according to Clark. He feels that producing pilots to help prepare Utah for the Olympic Games is a vital piece of the training.
The new facility in Spanish Fork will open in September. For more information, visit fltacademy.com.
Correction: In an earlier version, Flight-crew Lead Training Academy was incorrectly referred to as Flight Leaders Training Academy.
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