‘First Class’ – LIFT Academy Welcomes First Students

An effort by Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc. to address what it calls a "critical shortage" of pilots officially lifts off Tuesday. Thirteen students in the first class of the LIFT Academy were chosen from more than 600 applicants. Chief Executive Officer Bryan Bedford says the airline hopes to attract students who had previously thought pilot training was "unattainable, unaffordable or unfinanceable."