Earning their wings: Ivy Tech’s Aviation Technology – Flight program is growing

Ivy Tech Columbus students seeking to become professional pilots on a given day study flight theory in the morning and a couple of hours later go a short distance to Columbus Municipal Airport where they put that into practice and take to the skies.

It’s part of the reason why Matthew Medley, Ivy Tech Columbus’ aviation program department chair, says enrollment in their Aviation Technology- Flight program is growing exponentially.

“I think word is getting out locally about how good our program,” Medley told The Republic. “Of course I’m biased— but I think we train the best pilots in the state and now that they’re starting to get out into the industry, the industry’s beginning to see that.”

Ivy Tech Columbus offers two aviation-related Associate of Applied Science degrees in Professional Flight, as well as Aviation Management. The programs are 60 credit hours over four, 16-week semesters.

Those who earn an associate’s in Professional Flight gain their commercial license, referred to by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as a commercial certificate.

“That student’s going to go through private pilot flight training, instrument flight training, and both single-engine and multi-engine commercial flight training over the course of 24 months,” Medley said.

The program comes at lower-cost than some of the other alternatives in Indiana including Purdue University, Indiana State University and Vincennes University and offers students the ability pursue their degrees, while also preparing for an airline career with experience that can’t be duplicated in only the classroom.

After Medley received his bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management from Auburn University, he to came to Columbus thinking he wanted to work for the local fixed-base operator. Within his first week or so at Jeff Air, the fixed-based operator at the time, Medley had a conversation with Brian Payne, airport director for Columbus Municipal Airport, who asked him if he would be interested in interning for him.

“I remember those days fondly,” Medley recalled. “… I think Brian already had basically the first year of the (Ivy Tech Columbus aviation) program written, and I helped them develop the second-year of the program.”

Columbus Municipal Airport partnered with Ivy Tech on an aviation flight and management program in 2015 where students could obtain an Aviation Certificate of Technology, around the same time Medley began teaching as an adjunct professor at the school. By 2016, Medley was program chair of the aviation department.

“It was essentially come to Ivy Tech or go into the airlines full-time,” Medley said. “I decided that I would much rather spend time teaching the next generation of pilots, and I am very happy that I made that decision.”

One year later the professional flying program was launched after the state gave approval to the program’s associate of applied science degrees.

The Aviation Technology-Flight program received a significant boost through Ivy Tech’s partnership with Indianapolis-based flight school LIFT Academy that started in late 2023. LIFT Academy is owned Republic Airways, one of the largest regional airlines in the United States. Students who complete the program have the opportunity to move on as a certified flight instructor (CFI) with LIFT Academy should they choose.

“I think Ivy Tech as a college looked down and said, ‘This is the state’s largest aviation employer. We should help that employer if we are able,’” Medley said. “I just think the stars aligned.”

As of now there are 12 students in flight training and that’s expected to double later this semester, Medley said, adding he expects further growth later in the year.

“My goal is to have the program almost double in size again in fall of 2025,” he said.

Medley attributed the growth to the vision of administrators at the college, but also the one-of-a-kind setup at the AirPark Campus.

“Campus leadership is truly the reason that I think we’re going to grow as much as we are, having that support from our local campus community, having the support from Brian Payne at the airport— those are going to be the largest factors,” Medley said.

Some of Medley students have gone on to work for an airline, others to the charter industry.

One former student, for example, had a job as a float plane pilot in the Caribbean.

But for the most part, what students have gone on to do has been evenly split, Medley said, although that’s likely to change as Ivy Tech’s partnership with LIFT Academy matures and the program becomes more focused on the airline industry.

Now their training is more specifically focused on “airline flight profiles, airline cockpit management— those kinds of things,” according to Medley.

When students begin the program, it’s recommended they complete their private knowledge exam first, akin to the written test people take before acquiring their driver’s license.

“We want all of your book knowledge done first,” Medley said. “So typically, if a student begins in August then we’ll get into the airplane for the first time in October or November.”

After that, students will typically fly four days a week throughout the semester and receive their private pilot license in about 16 weeks.

Ivy Tech Columbus is bringing an entirely new generation of pilots into the industry from increasingly more walks of life as well. While some come with no experience, they all share an interest in the magic of flight.

“It is the rule and not the exception, that students have no background in aviation,” Medley said. “And that’s one of the things that makes the job truly enjoyable to me, is to be able to take an 18 to 20, or even a 28-year-old who has no background in aviation and make that person a professional.”

Aviation students at Ivy Tech Columbus are also significantly more diverse than the current pool of aircraft pilots, presenting sometimes first-generation college students with access to what Medley said can be generational-changing wealth.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 90% of the nation’s pilots are white males.

“This program has a 25 to 30% diverse population,” Medley said “… I think that it’s pretty gratifying to see our students be able to walk in and say, ‘Hey, I want to try this,’ and then we can take them and show them, we’re not just going to try this, we’re going to do this.”

Medley found himself last year thousands of feet in the air on a commercial flight with one of his students in the cockpit for the first time, what he called “one of the most, if not the most rewarding experience that I’ve had at the college.”

When asked if he felt an inkling to still give the student some pointers, Medley said no way.

“By the time they get into the industry— they are the subject matter expert,” he said.