Airline's decision ends 20-year partnership with college at Farmington to train pilots
San Juan College will close its aviation department at the end of the fall semester because Mesa Air Group is discontinuing its pilot training program at the college, The Daily Times reported.
The Farmington newspaper said Mesa informed college administrators on Wednesday that it was canceling the program, ending a 20-year partnership.
Mesa began the partnership with San Juan College in 1989 in order to train pilots to fill its ranks, The Daily Times reported. Under the program, students could complete ground school and the required 250 hours of flight training in Farmington, while earning an associate degree.
Mickey Moman, general manager of Mesa Pilot Development Inc., said in a prepared statement Wednesday, "Unfortunately, given the current operating environment and the challenges facing the company, (Mesa) can no longer sustain its training program at San Juan College."
According to the newspaper, approximately 30 students are enrolled in the program, including about 10 who are in their final semester and will comprise the program's final graduating class.
The college's president, Carol Spencer, told The Daily Times that cancellation of the program will force the college to cut two faculty positions and Aviation Coordinator Rae Lynn Shropshire.
"We've graduated hundreds of top-quality pilots, and this is a loss," Spencer said. "What is is, and we will move forward as professionally as possible and do our very best to take care of the students."
The newspaper reported that according to the airline's Web site, Mesa began as Mesa Air Shuttle in 1982, providing service between Farmington and Albuquerque on a single nine-passenger aircraft. Within 10 years, it had grown to serve 63 cities with a fleet of 38 aircraft.
Mesa, which relocated its headquarters from Farmington to Phoenix in 1998, now operates 145 aircraft in 124 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, The Daily Times reported.
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