- It took me the better part of two and a half years or so,
from start to finish, to get where I am today.
- We're really looking at massive demand for pilots.
- The fact that I'm gonna achieve my goal
and become a pilot within a year,
it's an amazing feeling.
- This is the time. - Good morning.
- It's a new month and a new class of pilot recruits --
-I'm a yoga instructor and a Reiki healer.
- Introducing themselves -- -^^
-At Republic Airways in Indianapolis.
Many are starting with zero flight hours.
- Earning money and working out at Papa John's.
- I've been a flight attendant for almost eight years.
- Republic is a regional airline
that flies under the brands of the major carriers.
You may not know you're on them unless you know where to look.
It's doing something no other US airline has done --
starting its own flight academy called LIFT
to train its own pilots.
We first met students here in December of 2019,
before the pandemic.
- My first career, I spent 22 years in the financial industry.
Picked up flying as a hobby
about three and a half years ago,
and when I was ready to make a change,
I figured, why not pursue something that I loved?
Mm, gearbox oil's good.
I was a auditor for four years at Ernst & Young
and Grant Thornton, and it just wasn't for me.
- Matt Sinibaldi's getting ready for a flight ahead
of a check ride he'll need in his training.
He figures he has a year and a half left to go at LIFT.
- Accounting is a soft skill,
and here, we're really using motor skills.
You have to train yourself on where to look.
I mean, you literally have to learn
where to look in the cockpit when X, Y, and Z happens.
Okay.
- Republic's LIFT Academy is making pilots in about a year.
That's with all the tests and licenses.
But it will take longer before students are flying passengers.
There was a time when pilots seemed like gods of the sky.
But the job has become less attractive with the ups
and downs of the airline industry.
In the US, pilots have to retire at 65,
but not enough new pilots are refilling the ranks.
The pandemic made it worse, as airlines parked planes
and thousands of pilots took early outs.
In a system based on seniority, everyone moves up.
That's hurting regional airlines the most --
the ones flying smaller jets --
since this is where pilots start.
- This was my baby.
- Pilots like Matt Sinibaldi.
We returned to Republic's LIFT Academy in late 2021
to see how the flying is going.
- Since July, my seniority has gone from zero --
right at the very bottom --
and now I have 260 people below me.
So that's a huge seniority shift that wouldn't happen
in a time of a pilot surplus.
For passengers, a pilot shortage could mean higher ticket prices.
Already, it means less service as routes and cities get cut --
like to Evansville, Indiana, and Akron-Canton, Ohio.
Regional airlines operate more than 40%
of the nation's flights.
- I think the next two years are gonna be very disruptive,
and especially disruptive for regional airlines
and the smaller communities that they serve.
- For Republic, it's about survival --
by growing their own.
LIFT is different from a flight school,
where students learn to fly but then go off to an airline.
- From the very first hour of flight training
when a student shows up at LIFT,
we are training them to fly the aircraft the Republic way.
So those students are learning airline pilot
skills from day one.
LIFT opened in 2018
and will soon double in size to 600 students.
United is now following
with an academy of its own called Aviate.
- The difficulty for creating new pilots
is substantial obstacles.
There's a cost obstacle.
There's a time obstacle.
- 1,500 flight hours --
what the FAA requires to become an airline pilot.
Sarah Caldwell, the flight attendant,
now has 400 hours
and is about to become a flight instructor at LIFT
to get the rest. It might sound cheesy,
but learning to fly teaches you a lot about yourself.
I have spent a lot of nights crying,
a lot of nights stressed,
but also been so happy and had so much fun at the same time.
All right, here we are.
- Since my orientation day at LIFT Academy,
that day, I was clueless.
I really didn't know what I was getting myself into.
- He'll soon be getting into a cockpit at Cape Air,
building time flying smaller nine-passenger planes
out of big hubs like Boston.
After 1,500 hours, it's back to Republic.
December, 2021.
Another month, another new class at LIFT.
So it begins.
- I've been with different airlines.
I've done different jobs.
I've done operations, ramp, ticket agent,
sales over the phone, flight attendant.
When I lived in New York, I was a paramedic for 14 years,
and if I can do that, I can do this.
I think I'm gonna be a fantastic pilot.
Pilot Conde.
- I have this motto that you gotta spend money to make money,
so eventually, I'm gonna get there.
Once I start working at Republic,
I'll be making it back.
- LIFT costs $90,000,
but Republic covers $15,000 of that.
In return, a starting job as a first officer
and a five-year commitment.
Airlines like Republic are banking on academies like LIFT
and better pay to attract a new generation of pilots.
But can anyone do this?
- It takes a lot of grit to get
through a 12-month accelerated airline pilot training program,
but I really think that that grit, that drive,
that resolution to be successful
is the most important factor for any applicant.
- On this afternoon, finance guy turned First Officer Mike Droese
is flying a 66-seat jet from Indianapolis
to New York's LaGuardia Airport.
He's been in a Republic cockpit for about three months.
It's been a journey.
- I'm super excited and super happy with the decision I made.
It really is a special calling.
You just get a really different perspective on the world
when you're up there flying.