An unlikely upgrade path
First, a bit of background. JetBlue describes the University Gateway initiative as a "career-planning and mentoring program designed to identify and recruit talented men and women into the professional pilot ranks. Through rigorous academic training and regional airline experience, the Aviation University Gateway creates a clearly defined career path for aspiring pilots, beginning early in an aviator's college career and culminating in the possibility of a final interview at a major airline."
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of North Dakota, the two universities that will funnel promising candidates to the program, are both highly regarded. JetBlue says other colleges and universities will also be joining the program. Students must be enrolled in an accredited aviation program, maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better, and receive recommendations from their professors. The next step is a series of interviews with JetBlue and Cape Air.
When accepted into the program, students will do an initial internship at Cape Air (other regional airline participants will be added over time), and then return to their universities to instruct. Once armed with sufficient flight time and experience, Aviation Gateway students will be posted to Cape Air, where they will fly for at least two years. At that point they will be eligible for a shot at the real prize--a final interview at JetBlue and, hopefully, a training class date.
As regional airlines go, Cape Air is neither tiny nor huge. Last year it flew about 722,000 passengers on routes in the northeastern United States, Florida, Indiana, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Region of Micronesia. And, like most regionals, it has code-sharing partners--JetBlue and Continental. Where Cape Air differs from most regionals is its fleet. Instead of Canadair or Embraer regional jets or large turboprops, Cape Air's aircraft of choice is the nine-seat Cessna 402C, a turbocharged, unpressurized piston twin. The airline operates 49 of them, or about one-quarter of the entire 402C fleet, according to Dave Bushy, Cape Air's chief operating officer--and they are always looking for more.
Why piston twins? It's simple, Bushy says: low operating costs. Cape Air specializes in flying to some small-town destinations that other airlines ignore: Provincetown, New Bedford, Hyannis, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, Massachusetts; Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, and Watertown, New York; Rutland, Vermont; Lebanon, New Hampshire; South Bend and Evansville, Indiana; and Vieques and Tortola in the Virgin Islands, among others. With short stage lengths--120 miles max--and relatively few passengers on those routes, Cape Air doesn't need big airplanes with big direct operating costs. Even a standard regional aircraft, the Beech 1900 turboprop, "would be too expensive," Bushy says.
The 402C works for Cape Air because "the economics are so good," he explains. One obvious reason is the Cessna's much lower fuel consumption compared to a larger turboprop or jet. Another reason the twin Cessna is economical to operate--and why I find it interesting that JetBlue is partnering with Cape Air to develop young airline pilots--is that many of Cape Air's routes are flown by one-pilot crews. On the face of it, single-pilot Cessna twins seem an odd fit for Aviation University Gateway students, most of whom will set their sights on flying a big, two-pilot Airbus painted in JetBlue colors.
Not at all, Bushy responds. "This is a great training ground," he says. Indeed, a persuasive case can be made that aspiring professionals who begin at Cape Air will spend their formative years in a much more hands-on, self-reliant environment than is the case at traditional carriers, and that exposure will help make them better pilots for the balance of their careers.
Cape Air airplanes are a familiar sight where I live in southwest Florida, but I never had an opportunity to fly Cape Air until recently. Even though each of the two flights I was on were only about 20 minutes long, it was clear to me that a Cape Air Cessna 402C pilot is much more than simply an airplane driver. I watched one pilot do a thorough preflight, just as any general aviation pilot would. He also helped the gate agent schlep bags onto the airplane at the departure airport, and then off the airplane at the destination. On each leg, a passenger sat in the right front seat, so the pilot had to keep an eye on that person while also flying the airplane and talking to air traffic control.
Cape Air pilots must learn to make decisions on their own, both while flying and when doing company business on the ground. They have to be resourceful; they must work directly with customers; and they have to develop working relationships with gate agents, dispatchers, mechanics, and other non-flying personnel who are critical to the smooth functioning of employee-owned Cape Air. That is excellent training for someone intent on a career as a professional pilot, whether at a major airline or as a corporate pilot.
Cape Air pilots "get unbelievable experience," says Bushy, whose background includes flying for Delta and JetBlue. "Airline-quality training, short flight legs, lots of exposure to customers--they get seasoned quickly."
Most forecasters are predicting a severe worldwide shortage of professional pilots over the next 20 years. Regional operators such as Cape Air know that they are the farm teams, that most of their recruits will eventually move on to larger, better-paying airlines or corporate flight departments. Life would be easier for those regionals if they knew that their new recruits were motivated and capable and could put in a few good, productive years before moving on. The Aviation University Gateway program seems like it will be a valuable source for that supply line.
Mark Twombly is a writer and editor who has been flying since 1968. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings and co-owner of a Piper Aztec.
