Their successful integration into the ranks of commercial pilots will help address an industry-wide lack of women and minority representation in the cockpit.
Minorities now account for just one percent of pilots and flight engineers.
Slightly more than five percent are women. Traditionally, most commercial airline pilots received their training while completing military service. As the pool of military pilots shrinks, airlines are looking for innovative ways to bring highly-trained individuals into the commercial pilot ranks. WMU's ab initio curriculum is a European-style flight training regimen that takes students with no previous flight experience through a complete program and prepares them for employment as first officers at commercial airlines. WMU began incorporating ab initio training into its undergraduate program in 1994 when it redesigned its curriculum to meet what representatives of the U.S. aviation industry said were the industry's most pressing needs.