LIFT Academy Training To Begin At Tuskegee University, Moton Field

Republic Airways Holdings and its Leadership in Flight Training (LIFT) Academy are developing a flight training program along with Tuskegee University to prepare aspiring pilots for careers as professional pilots.

The training center will be based at Moton Field in Alabama, the site where the Tuskegee Airmen underwent flight training before becoming the first African American military aviators during World War II.

Historically, African American pilots are underrepresented in the aviation industry, and make up nearly 3% of all commercial pilots, according to the partners.

“The partnership between LIFT Academy and Tuskegee University is designed to encourage, recruit and educate future African American pilots with first-rate in-classroom and in-flight instruction,” the partners say. Tuskegee University is a historically black university based in Tuskegee, Alabama.

The program, which will begin in the fall of 2024, offers a bachelor’s degree in aviation science from Tuskegee University and a commercial multi-engine pilot license through the LIFT Academy. Republic Airways will provide the curriculum and training staff to the new students, who will train on LIFT’s fleet of Diamond DA40-NG single-engine and Diamond DA-42-VI twin-engine aircraft.

The partnership calls for a capital investment of $27 million for the aircraft, according to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

Indiana-based Republic Airways formed LIFT Academy as an internal flight school in 2018. It graduated its first students three years later.

The program targets students from a range of traditional and non-traditional backgrounds. LIFT graduates can transition to first officer at Republic Airways with a pathway to captain.

“Alabama has a long history of providing critical flight training for military aviators, and historic Moton Field is the perfect location for a training center for a new generation of commercial pilots,” says Gov. Ivey. “The LIFT Academy is an ideal way to build on the legacy of the Tuskegee Airman by creating solid career opportunities for tomorrow’s pilots.”