FAA cuts flight time in ASU Poly program

The Federal Aviation Administration has deemed Arizona State University Polytechnic’s flight-school curriculum rigorous enough to authorize a flight-time reduction for its students, allowing bachelor’s program graduates to serve as co-pilots after 1,000 hours vs. 1,500.

The FAA implemented the 1,500-hour rule, which applies to commercial pilots employed by U.S. airlines, late last summer. It previously had required 250 hours, but pressure to up inflight training time mounted after a 2009 Colgan Air plane flown by fairly inexperienced pilots crashed and killed 50 people.

Though collegiate aviation organizations generally supported additional preparation for students, they found the 1,500-hour minimum unreasonable, according to Mary Niemczyk, director of ASU’s aviation program.

“The reduction of the 500 hours allows our students to complete flight training and get to 1,000 hours by the time they graduate,” she said. “They can do all that in four years. The additional 500 hours would take them another year or so.”

To be considered for the reduction, the university had to prove to the FAAthat it covered an extensive list of criteria in the classroom and in the air, according to Niemczyk.

“One of the biggest highlights of the aviation program here at ASU is that all of our instructors come out of the aviation industry,” she said. “They know all the latest technologies and trends.

“We also have state-of-theart simulating equipment used during classes and flight training. And with the weather, we can fly 365 days a year.”

The reduction will help not only current ASU students but former students who graduated before the 1,500 hours were required.

“Some of the students who were out there in the field ... were furloughed and sitting home very anxious. We got calls and e-mails from many of them (when the reduction was announced),” Niemczyk said. “Those who weensured met the new (reduced) criteria provided us with their info, and we’ve provided them that certificate. They can fly now.”

The FAA has given about 35 other schools permission to certify graduates with 1,000 or 1,250 flight hours, according to an administration database.