The 21-year-old moved to Mesa from New York to complete his flight schooling. A student at Relentless Flight School in Mesa, Cascone is currently in a holding pattern waiting to take his certified flight instructor test. An apparent shortage of examiners to administer that test are the cause, the student said.
“There’s so many people in the Arizona region that are looking to take tests,” Cascone said.
Eventually, Cascone said the flight instructor test is the next step on his journey to become a commercial pilot for a major airline.
His pursuit — and that of many others around the region — is a good thing for the growing number of flight schools in the Phoenix area and for the aviation industry, which is predicting a shortage of pilots across the board in the coming years.
The Valley’s flight schools are hoping to bridge the gap in training pilots to lessen the brunt of a pilot shortage. Industry projections say 130,000 new pilots and 132,000 new technicians are needed by 2040 in North America.
The cockpit of a Pipistrel Alpha Trainer at Mesa’s Relentless Flight School, 2550 N Thunderbird Circle Suite 219, Mesa.
Relentless Flight School
In the Valley, there are independent aviation schools from Scottsdale to Glendale. United Aviate Academy may be the most well-known. The facility, housed at Phoenix Goodyear Airport in a center that opened in late 2021, is connected to United Airlines and officials in 2022 said the airline is expected to funnel 10,000 pilots to the airline during the next 10 years.
"(United is) not ready to share the number of UAA grads expected to be pilots at United by the end of the decade," a United spokesman said in an emailed statement this week.
The school operates in a 340,000-square-foot Goodyear facility that uses leased late-model Cirrus SR-20 series single-engine aircraft. The center consists of two aircraft hangars, nearly 50,000 square feet of office space, and dormitory rooms for students with room for growth, according to a press release announcing the school’s opening.
“(We) are the only major U.S. airline to wholly own a flight-training school,” a United Aviate Academy spokesman said.
The school uses in-class, flight-deck and computer-based training to help turn aspiring pilots into professionals, the spokesman said.
Students can apply to the school’s career development program, which gets them a conditional job offer once applicants have met all requirements and have 1,500 hours flying under their belt.
"It takes five to six years to make it to the United flight deck after graduating and completing all flight training requirements and certification," the United spokesman said.
No students have been hired yet, according to the company.
The school currently has 360 students attending the Goodyear academy.
For those in training, first officer requirements — a position where the individual is essentially a co-pilot — range from a current U.S. Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate to an Unrestricted FAA Airline Transport Pilot certificate with airplane multi-engine class rating, its website stated.
The pending pilot shortage has drawn plenty of attention. In 2022, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema visited the school and spoke with aviation stakeholders where leaders sought solutions on how to bolster the aviation workforce and create more diversity within the field.
The group included Dana Donati, former CEO of Aviate, a flight school of United Airlines; Anette Karlsson, chancellor of the Embry-Riddle campus in Prescott; Greg Wilson, dean of Pima Community College; Jonathan Ornstein, CEO of Mesa Air Group; and Paul Ryder, national resource coordinator of Air Line Pilots Association International.
United isn’t the only one trying its hand at training more pilots. Smaller schools, like Relentless Flight School at Falcon Field in Mesa, are among those trying to bring more pilots to the skies.
A Pipistrel Alpha Trainer at Mesa’s Relentless Flight School.
Relentless Flight School
Students at the program are about a 50-50 mix of those who want to get a commercial pilot’s license versus a private license, said Kyle Bloomer, owner of Relentless Flight School.
To participate, trainees must be 17 years old and be a U.S. citizen, Bloomer said.
Relentless Flight School has been operational for about seven months and works on a pay-as-you-go system of about $1,500 per week, the owner said.
Bloomer estimates students who take three flight lessons per week at two hours per flight can earn a commercial pilot’s license in about nine months, according to Bloomer. But the Mesa school could be ideal for those who have a busy schedule.
“Most of our students have full-time jobs,” Bloomer said.
For Cascone, who currently has his private and instrument licenses, it was a love of aviation founded while working at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a history museum in Red Hook, New York, led him to become a pilot, he said.
“I wanted to become a commercial pilot because I fell in love with aviation,” Cascone said. “I tried describing it to people. But it’s something you have to experience yourself.”
Becoming a commercial pilot could be fruitful if individuals can stick it out.
At United, a co-pilot can make $116 per hour right out of school, the United spokesman said.
Brent Ruffner joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2021 where he writes about developments at TSMC and Maricopa County issues, including election topics.
He's written about stories that range from accusations that a Mesa monkey breeding facility is unsafe to what to do if you encounter a rattlesnake in the desert.
Community: He is a supporter of the American Cancer Society.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University, May 2007.
Random Fact: He met former San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays at a Phoenix Firebird game after winning a contest for an autographed baseball.
Hobbies: Hiking in the woods and collecting sports memorabilia.
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