Marywood University’s Aviation program will expand to Philadelphia. This expansion is being done in partnership with the Blue Bell Airport, at a time with crucial need for pilots in the airline industry.
Captain of Marywood’s Aviation program Joseph MacDonald claims that the track “gives students more options, greater flexibility and better employment opportunities throughout their career.” Expanding the program out to different parts of the country not only allows for more accessibility for students, but also leaves room for more pilot jobs in the future.
With this opportunity currently in the works, MacDonald was able to give a more descriptive account of the expansion. MacDonald explained why they specifically chose Philadelphia for the expansion.
“We think Philadelphia was an underserved market so we could probably expand to that. There’s other universities down there as well, plus the closeness of it makes it a nice fit for us,” said MacDonald.
MacDonald also stated why they chose Philadelphia as opposed to a larger area like New York City.
“Those areas get very congested, there also aren’t many people that can tap into a small airport in that area,” said MacDonald. “We are unable to have students practice flying at LaGuardia, for example, due to its size and flight numbers.”
Finally, MacDonald said that he hopes this expansion will “…be a little satellite for us, that we can offer our program in the Philadelphia area, and we can do our flight training with the same vendor we use now. And students will be able to get their training, hours of practice for flights, and academics, without having to make the commute to Marywood.”
Peter Castelline is a Marywood aviation major and gave his view on the program’s expansion.
“It’s without a doubt gonna offer a great level of convenience for future students in the area,” said Castelline.
One last thing Castelline mentioned was the flight simulator he hopes that “anyone who is interested in becoming a pilot can get their hands on the simulator we have.”
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