Forces to Flyers

Forces to Flyers is a three-year research initiative led by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and its Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.

The research initiative will study pathways for entering the pilot workforce, identify barriers to pilot training and employment, and implement and evaluate a demonstration initiative that will provide flight training to veterans without prior military pilot experience who are interested in becoming airline pilots. The results of the research will be used to help to determine how to assist veterans’ transitions to new careers as airline pilots and thereby preserve air service to rural and small communities.

Selected Flight Schools

U.S. DOT recently announced contract awards to flight schools as part of the Forces to Flyers research initiative. The contract awardees for each of the four regions are as follows:

• Western Pacific/Northwest/Mountain/Alaskan Region: Leading Edge Aviation, Inc. – Bend, Oregon
• Central/Great Lakes Region: CTI Professional Flight Training, LLC – Millington, Tennessee
• Southwest Region: U.S. Aviation Group, LLC – Denton, Texas
• Eastern/Southern Region: CTI Professional Flight Training, LLC – Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Training Provided

Under the contracts, the flight schools will provide the training necessary for up to 44 students to earn the following certificates and ratings:

• Private Pilot Certificate
• Instrument Rating
• Commercial Pilot Certificate
• Multi-Engine Rating
• Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) Certificate
• CFI-Instrument (CFI-I) Certificate                                                       

After receiving a CFI-I Certificate, participants will be able to seek employment as flight instructors while obtaining the flight hours necessary to qualify for an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate (ATP) and become an airline pilot.

Information for Veterans Applying to F2F Flight Schools

Veterans who are interested in participating in Forces to Flyers should contact the flight schools listed above to inquire about application procedures.

All students in the Forces to Flyers program should have the following:

1. A first-class medical certificate,
2. A student pilot certificate, and
3. A letter of reference from a previous or current commanding officer, teacher/instructor/professor, or supervisor/manager.

Additional eligibility requirements can be found in the solicitation attachments and additional resources, listed below. Potential applicants are also encouraged to review the solicitation for flight training services.

Solicitation Attachments and Additional Resources

Join the Mailing List

If you would like to receive updates on the Forces to Flyers research initiative, please email ForcestoFlyers@dot.gov to be added to the mailing list.

Provide Feedback

Any member of the public is invited to provide voluntary feedback on the Forces To Flyers research initiative by emailing ForcestoFlyers@dot.gov.