About Us
Windsor’s premier aviation training institute, Journey Air boasts an impressive fleet of world-class aircrafts, a top-notch team of qualified instructors, and a diverse portfolio of Transport Canada-certified flight training opportunities that includes one of the country’s fastest growing and most innovative post-secondary aeronautics training programs.
The company operates out of a state-of-the-art facility on the Windsor International Airport (YQG) campus. Journey Air lifted off in 2005, when it catered primarily to a hobbyist clientele and stocked its hangars with a modest fleet of Cessnas. Today, the company’s runways showcase world-class composite-construction single-engine Diamond DA20, multi-engine DA42 aircraft and DA40 cross country aircraft . Assembled to world-class standards in London, Ontario, Diamonds boast state-of-the art avionics worthy of the name.
Windsor is an ideal place for a potential pilot to start out. The Airport boasts all the benefits of a larger metropolitan air travel hub, but its manageable size and relatively low traffic volume as compared to Toronto, translate into significantly increased opportunities for novice pilots. Additionally, Windsor’s border-city airfield is less than 10 kilometres from Detroit, granting students the valuable opportunity to interact with American-controlled airspace as they learn to navigate their professional obligations concerning an international border.
Since 2013, Journey Air has partnered with the University of Windsor to help deliver its innovative Bachelor of Arts Aeronautics Leadership degree program. The unique course of study marries a diverse and flexible Liberal Arts-focused education with first-class commercial flight training to produce broad-minded graduates with a specific, highly employable technical skill set. University of Windsor handles the Bachelor of Arts lectures, and Journey Air takes care of the flight training.
One of a small handful of University affiliated aviation programs in Canada, the four-year Aeronautics Leadership Program equips students to obtain a Private Pilot’s Licence and a Commercial Pilot Licence with Multi-Engine, Instrument, and Night Endorsements. Student-pilots who successfully navigate the program’s requirements receive an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Professional Studies from the University’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Graduates leave workforce ready.
Taking off is taking off. A career in aviation hasn’t been this attractive in generations. As air travel continues to expand into new and developing markets and a sizeable cohort of aviation professionals ages into retirement, one thing is clear: the demand for skilled pilots is set to skyrocket.
You may have already caught wind of a reported shortage of pilots estimated to be around 500,000 worldwide; many airlines are already offering serious incentives to attract talent.
This April, the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace’s 2018 Labour Market Information Report argued persuasively that the Canadian workforce will need to add 55,000 new pilots by 2025 just to keep pace with projected industry growth and replace existing pilots as they retire or otherwise leave the workforce and that’s just in Canada. According to a Boeing estimation, the global aviation industry will likely need to fill 330,000 cockpit seats over the next 10 years.
The horizon is clear: for men and women with the right skill set – and those willing to put in the work to acquire it – the opportunities are very real. If you can see yourself in the cockpit, you need to touch down at Windsor’s own Journey Air.
Perhaps the best-kept secret of flight training, though, is that you don’t need to earn a dollar as a professional pilot for it to all have been worthwhile. While the careerist argument for learning to fly is difficult to deny, a rigorous education in the aeronautic arts also doubles as an invaluable course in positive personal growth. Student pilots are asked to exercise critical decision making muscles on a daily basis and must commit to structured, deliberate practice in a high-pressure, controlled environment. In the end, good pilots make good people.
If you have the right work ethic, it’s easier than you might think to include yourself in that group.
If you’re not happy with your current career direction – or you’re not sure you have one at all – all signs point to Journey Air. It’s the perfect time to spread your wings.
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