Work begins on new Flight Training Center Annex at Bowers Field

The Central Washington University Department of Aviation is hoping to ascend to new heights in the next two years with the introduction of a new 8,800-square-foot Flight Training Center (FTC) Annex at Bowers Field.

The $6.2 million facility, made possible by a $9.9 million appropriation from the Washington State Legislature in 2025, will bring all the program’s operations under one roof for the first time since it was founded in the 1970s. 

CWU Aviation currently occupies four separate buildings at the airfield northwest of campus, plus a classroom in Black Hall.

“We’ve been needing to do this for a long time,” Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator Anthony Davis said. “It’s important for the future of the program that we are all in one space because that proximity for our students, staff, and faculty will allow for better communication, better operations, and better outcomes.” 

Design of the FTC Annex started in late 2025, with permitting scheduled to begin this fall and construction in the spring of 2027. The remaining $3.7 million in state funds will be dedicated to design, permitting, furnishing, and specialty services.

Under the project master plan developed by CWU Capital Planning and Projects, the 1,280-square-foot “Brown Building” — a postwar-era structure that houses half of the department’s flight instructors — will be demolished to make room for the FTC Annex.

If everything goes according to plan, the new annex will be ready for use in the fall of 2028. 

Because CWU plays such a critical role in preparing the next generation of airline industry professionals, department leadership recognizes that it has a responsibility to offer students the best training and resources available.  

“We’ve been trying to modernize our infrastructure for a long time, and since we have been spread out for so long, we’ve had to create a lot of workarounds to make everything work,” Davis said. “But with the new annex, we won’t have to do that anymore.” 

A recent article in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce noted that demand is high for the CWU program, with more than 300 candidates vying for 65 open Professional Pilot spots in the 2025 admissions cycle.

The article referenced a Boeing Pilot and Technical Outlook (PTO) report, which estimated the demand for pilots over the next 20 years in North America alone at more than 100,000, with equal demand for aviation technicians.