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New leadership at Flight School of Jackson hopes to get more pilots in the sky

Posted 10:53 PM, Jan 28, 2025
  • Video shows planes at the Flight School of Jackson.
  • Earlier this month, Nic LaPorte and Zack Wohlart both joined Flight School of Jackson as the Director of Operations and School Director.
  • According to Boeing, the industry requires 647,000 new pilots by 2043 to combat the global pilot shortage.

"Making them (students) a pilot is a lot more complicated than it seems. It's like teaching somebody how to re-walk again, in the sky," says School Director, Zack Wohlart. At the Flight School of Jackson, learning to fly is just another day ending in Y. "There's a real value in small business flight schools," says Director of Operations, Nic LaPorte. Wohlart and LaPorte both started at the Flight School of Jackson earlier this month. A time when it's more important than ever to get pilots in the cockpit.

"This growing problem of not having enough pilots is like an out-of-control fire and we don't have enough water. That's how we're looking at it: How can we help put out that fire to put out more qualified pilots in a shorter amount of time?" says Wohlart.

LaPorte explains that a few reasons for the current pilot shortage is the resurgence of people flying post-COVID and a large number of pilots retiring. Shortly after they started, I visited the Flight School of Jackson in 2023. Since then, they've gone from one to five planes and are continuing to grow. These expansions are leading them to be able to train more pilots, and according to LaPorte, these aren't the last expansions to come. "It's really growing and has a possibility of expanding into more locations," he says.

WATCH: Instructor Jake Bradley, training for his CFII, shares an experience about his first solo flight:

Flight school student shares first solo flight

Wohlart says the flight school can provide prospective pilots their required 40 hours quicker than a traditional program, in a setting that allows them to work one-on-one and at a rate that's less expensive than other, traditional programs. He explains, "I could have a student come off the street today, and I could have them in training tomorrow. That's not something you see. For example, for me, I had to wait a month." Those at the Flight School of Jackson are getting those students equipped and in the sky, where they're needed. Wohlart continues, "We really find all the variables to get the students ahead of where they could be anywhere else."

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