Delta Propel, Skyborne Academy join forces

Delta launched its Propel Pilot Career Path Program in 2018, offering three distinct pathways for aspiring pilots to make their way to the Delta flight deck through university, flight training, and community partners. Since then, almost 100 participants have completed the program and are currently flying with Delta, while an additional 700 pilots are currently enrolled in the program.

The new flight academy hosted by Skyborne Airline Academy in Vero Beach, Florida, creates a fourth pathway for Delta hopefuls and is already accepting applications for its first class this June. It will be based at Skyborne’s Vero Beach campus in a recently refurbished 12,000-square-foot facility.

Lee Woodward, CEO of Skyborne Airline Academy, said, “At Skyborne, every aspect of our training is designed to prepare students for airline operations in terms of core knowledge and decision making, flight deck procedures and professionalism. Our team is looking forward to taking Delta Propel Flight Academy students through their pilot training journey and into their chosen career with a global airline leader who shares the same values as us in training and customer experience.”

Delta says training at the academy will be “delivered in an airline-focused way,” as student pilots complete their private, instrument, commercial, and certificated flight instructor certificates. Once a student earns their first certificate or rating at the Propel Flight Academy, they will be eligible to apply to the Propel Pilot Career Path Program, and if selected, those pilots will be required to meet certain performance targets throughout their training.

Upon successful completion of training and certification as a flight instructor, students are offered employment with Skyborne as a CFI that includes a salary, health benefits, and full sponsorship from Skyborne for instrument instructor and multiengine instructor certificates. When they reach 1,500 hours, “employment will begin at one of Delta’s Connection Carriers as a first officer.”

Student pilots will be eligible to receive up to $20,000 in financial support from Delta as well as the costs of interest on student loans from select lenders.

“The Propel Flight Academy is the latest chapter in our longstanding commitment to invest in and create new, equitable pathways for qualified talent to enter the pilot profession,” Patrick Burns, Delta vice president of flight operations and system chief pilot, said. “We look forward to watching a new generation of pilots begin their journey at the Propel Flight Academy and eventually join us in the flight deck to help show Delta customers why no one better connects the world.”