IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
San Bernardino International Airport has signed a lease with a school that trains pilots to work in commercial aviation.
World Wide Wings LLC in Vancouver, Wash., is expected to be up and running in September with three planes, said Mark Gibbs, the airport’s director of aviation.
Terms of the lease were not disclosed.
The pilot school, which is licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration to train domestic and international students, will occupy office and hangar space at the northeast end of the airport, according to a statement.
The school eventually plans to expand to 10 airplanes, Gibbs said.
World Wide Wings approached airport officials four months ago about possibly locating at the airport, and negotiations proceeded quickly from there.
“Someone told them they should talk to us, that there was a lot going on here, and it turned out we had a building that was perfect for them,” Gibbs said. “We’re also going to open 30 new hangars in the area where the school is going to be located. They should sit very well together.”
Schools like World Wide Wings are desperately needed because commercial pilots are going to be in strong demand during the next 20 years or so.
“A lot of Baby Boomers are starting to retire, which creates demand right there,” Gibbs said. “But there are pilot shortages everywhere, even in North America.”
World Wide Wings looked at several locations but chose San Bernardino International in part because it can be reached easily from close to anywhere in the world, Rehan Siddiqui, the company’s director and project coordinator, said in the statement.
