Rep. Schrier shows support of CWU Aviation with tour of Bowers Field

Washington's 8th Congressional District representative was in Ellensburg last Thursday for a tour of the Central Washington University aviation facilities, followed by a town hall on campus later in the evening.

U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier and her staff were welcomed by CWU President Jim Wohlpart, Provost Michelle DenBeste, Department of Aviation Chair Sam Pavel, and others for a tour of the Bowers Field hangar, flight simulator, and more.

An article in the Ellensburg Daily Record on Saturday noted that the CWU program is "a regional leader in professional aviation education and the only fully accredited public university in the Pacific Northwest."

Schrier was given an opportunity to sit in the cockpit of an aircraft on the tarmac, as well as the flight simulator, so she could gain a better understanding of the program, regarded as one of the nation's top aviation programs.

"There is a national pilot shortage and we need more people trained to become pilots, and there aren't many ways to do that outside of the military," said Schrier, who represents King, Pierce, Kittitas, Chelan and Snohomish counties, and a portion of Douglas County.

"So, running a program like this at a public university where everybody can come get this experience makes a lot of kid's dreams come true and fills a need with the pilot shortage."

The article said the program currently has 227 aviation students, including 60 who are in their first year. Fifty-seven students are graduating this spring and 80 new students have been admitted for the fall of 2024, Pavel said in the article.

"It's one of the best programs in the Northwest and the country too. We're supplying Delta Airlines eventually and pilots on a national scale," the department chair said. "Our students go out to the airlines, so to me it makes sense to look at the federal government. We just wanted to meet her and show Congresswoman Schrier what we're doing here."

The majority of CWU graduates from the Professional Pilot major start out as certified flight instructors and eventually become captains at major airlines or fly for corporate aviation departments. Their instruction includes flight training and some ground school courses, along with academic courses at Bowers Field at the Flight Training Center or Aviation Training Center.

Schrier expressed her ongoing support of CWU's efforts to train the next generation of flight professionals.

"It's a very special thing to be able to come here and learn how to fly," she said in the article. "They can learn to become an instructor themselves and help bring up the next generation of pilots and have a career ahead of them. So, we're looking into the American Aviators Act that will help get more veterans training, which is a bill I sponsored."