Purdue Global’s online aviation program helping new pilots take off nationwide
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAs new flights are added at airports across Indiana and nationwide, the job market for pilots is also growing. Purdue Global’s School of Aviation is helping the next generation of aviation professionals prepare for takeoff.
A 2025 Aviation Talent Forecast projects 300,000 new pilots will be needed over the next 10 years and the number of commercial aircraft is expected to grow by 35%.
Through a network of flight school partnerships, Purdue Global students can take online classes and work on their flight hours close to home.
Purdue Global currently has flight school partners in more than 150 cities across the country, including Indianapolis-based Jet Access. The company was founded by a Purdue alum and has flight schools in six states.
“We’ve grown quite a bit over the last five years as a company, but also as a flight school,” Jet Access Chief Flight Instructor and Executive Vice President of Flight Training Kevin Legault said. “We absolutely had a really, really high demand for flight training. We just couldn’t keep up with the demand. So we’ve added, I think, over 20 aircraft over the last five years.”
Legault oversees Jet Access’ flight training business and says the Purdue Global program has fueled a talent pipeline for the company.
“Years ago, we really struggled to find flight instructors. We had to post jobs externally, but now we just have a constant pipeline of qualified flight instructors to where we almost only hire internally,” Legault said.
Caden Carpenter, a Purdue Global senior, is also a flight instructor at Jet Access.
“I traveled a lot as a kid. My favorite part of traveling was always the airplane ride, so that should have been a sign,” Carpenter said. “[Now, I] teach people how to fly airplanes the best I can [and] just try to do it better than whoever was before me, which sometimes is pretty hard.”
Carpenter has flown to airports across the state and sees himself staying as a flight instructor for years to come.
“All I know is that I have a ton of fun flying airplanes right now, big or small,” Carpenter said. “I want to stay here, mostly because of the people. Flying an airplane is flying an airplane no matter where you’re at, but the people [at Jet Access] are awesome, and I really enjoy coming in and working with them.”
Purdue Global student Jonathan Miller says the online format has helped strike a balance between his education and flight training.
“Once I got into a plane and got up there with one of the instructors. I knew I really wanted to do it,” Miller said. “You can have a lot of freedom to get as much training as you want, get done or take a break from training.”
Miller is a senior at Purdue Global and hopes to become a flight instructor as well to build his flight hours.
“[My instructors] influenced me just to keep going and keep learning with aviation. A safe pilot is one that’s always learning,” Miller said. “[I want to] give [students] that sense of confidence that I got whenever I was training.”
In addition to the Purdue Global path, Jet Access offers pay-as-you-go flight training. The company welcome high school graduates or those looking to change careers.
“We also want to give our students options to pursue a college degree if that’s something they’re interested in, so the partnership with Purdue Global allows really great flexibility for our students to do flight training and earn a college degree simultaneously,” Legault said. “With a college degree, it gives them a lot more opportunities.”
Construction continues on the new Amelia Earhart Terminal at the Purdue University Airport in West Lafayette. It’s expected to open in August.