Baylor Institute for Air Science Partners with Universal Flight Concepts to Provide Training

July 11, 2019
aviation science announces

The Baylor Institute for Air Science has entered into an agreement with UHI, INC./Universal Flight Concepts to provide flight training for the aviation sciences program starting in Fall 2019. Photo courtesy of Baylor Aviation Sciences.

Media Contact: Tonya B. Hudson, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-4656
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by Brooke Hill, student newswriter, Baylor University Media & Public Relations

WACO, Texas (July 11, 2019) — Baylor University and the Baylor Institute for Air Science have entered into an agreement with UHI, INC./Universal Flight Concepts to provide flight training for the aviation sciences program starting in Fall 2019.

Baylor offers an undergraduate degree in aviation sciences with a professional pilot concentration. This collaboration will allow students to experience a one-of-a-kind integrated pilot training system with modern Tecnam aircraft and Tecnam-specific simulators throughout the entire fleet, an environment that will be unique in the world of collegiate aviation with one manufacturer providing three different aircraft models for training.

Trey Cade, Ph.D., director of the Baylor Institute for Air Science, said the program has been working with the Texas State Technical College pilot training program since 1991, and that relationship will continue.

“This new flight school will add more versatility and room to grow our program to meet national demands for trained pilots,” Cade said. “We also believe that this collaboration will set the standard in collegiate aviation.”

“We are grateful and excited for the opportunity to help this prestigious university train their aviation students to the highest level,” said Gordon Jiroux, Ph.D., president and CEO of Universal. “We share in Baylor’s belief that all student training must be innovative and comprehensive, with complete dedication to safety.”

Universal has distinguished itself over the past decade as one of the largest FAA Part 141 Flight Training Companies in the world and is the only contracted flight training provider for the helicopter degree program at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest aviation university. They have had a strong presence in Texas for more than five years with locations at Waco TSTC airport and Dallas Executive Airport, and now have made a long term commitment at Waco Regional Airport, leasing 9,000 square feet of office and 32,000 square feet of hangar space.

Baylor’s aviation sciences program houses about 80 students. The program offers an aviation sciences major, with either a professional pilot concentration or aircraft dispatch concentration, and an aviation administration major. The program leverages real-world experience in airport management, aircraft accident investigation, aviation law, master flight instruction, commercial aviation, corporate aviation, military aviation and weather analysis and forecasting.

The Institute for Air Science was created in 1991 to advance Baylor University's mission through research, public service and the education of a new generation of pilots. In the same year, the institute initiated the Bachelor of Science in Aviation Sciences (B.S.A.) degree and graduated its first class in 1995.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.