AVIATION LEGISLATION

As the nation faces a critical pilot shortage, a bill aims to help high school students get airborne

U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn has introduced bipartisan legislation that provides some high school students with scholarships to help them become pilots.

The Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited Act, which is named for the term pilots use to describe ideal flying conditions, provides scholarships for pilot's certificates to students in high school-based Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps, otherwise known as JROTC.

All branches of the military sponsor JROTC programs in local high schools to teach leadership, as well as civic and technical education. JROTC does not require a commitment to military service, but many students use the program to lay groundwork for a military career.

Horn, D-Oklahoma City, is cosponsoring the legislation with Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger.

The Air Force and the aviation industry overall face a critical pilot shortage. Certificates are expensive and earning them is timeconsuming, and the demand for pilots has only grown.

More than 200,000 new pilots are needed in North America over the next two decades. State officials are also discussing ways to get more people behind the yoke.

In Oklahoma, the Air Force JROTC provides specialized aeronautics and space education. With about 1,000 students participating in Air Force JROTC units alone, these programs provide an important and unique service to strengthen our aerospace workforce of the future, Horn said.

“This commonsense, bipartisan legislation solves two problems,” Horn said. “It addresses the military pilot shortage and lack of diversity. And it creates another pathway to success for our young people. I'm grateful

my colleague Congressman Kinzinger worked with me on this important issue.”

According to the Air Force, more than 90% of American military pilots are white, and more than 94% are men. The pilot's license scholarships will encourage early exploration of careers in aviation within the JROTC ranks, which are significantly more diverse, with minorities and women making up 58% and 40% of JROTC participants, respectively.

Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael C. Thompson, who serves as Oklahoma's Adjutant General, expressed his support for this bill.

“The looming pilot crisis has the potential to adversely affect the Oklahoma National Guard and other services,” he said. “I applaud Congresswoman Horn's effort to address this critical pilot issue and contribute to a more promising future for our young adults who are interested in military service.”