UNO Aviation Soaring to New Heights
by Brandon Bartling
Legend has it Southwest Airlines discovered that hanging a rubber chicken on a flight simulator keeps it in perfect working order. When someone attempted to remove them, simulators began breaking down. Once the chickens were returned, the simulators returned to normal.
If the superstition works for the pros, why not adopt the same practice at UNO? Visit UNO’s flight simulators, including the newest Boeing 737 flight training device, and you’ll notice rubber chickens hanging from each one.
UNO’s Boeing 737 simulator offers fully tactile training for future pilots with a full replica cockpit built to scale. Using a simulator with actual aircraft yokes, buttons, switches, gauges and other instruments allows students to develop a physical, spatial connection to the environment they will be working in – something that can’t be replicated in a simulator comprised of only touchscreens.
With a state-of-the-art simulator, students have a unique opportunity to prepare for situations they may encounter after takeoff. Faculty instructors within UNO’s Aviation Institute manipulate the situations facing the virtual aircraft while the rest of the class stands behind the captain’s chairs, watching as their classmates react while flying the mock aircraft.
“When something goes wrong, you don’t want it to be in an actual airplane the first time,” Vlasek said. “We can insert failures and rapid weather changes that will force them to use their training and critical thinking skills. If you can go through some of those things in a simulated environment, it’s certainly going to help the students.”
Valuable experience flying a simulated Boeing 737 would not be possible if not for a gift from the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation. Its founder, Ethel S. Abbott, was an aviation pioneer who with her first husband, Raymond H. Page, operated the Lincoln Aircraft Company in Lincoln, Neb. The couple trained pilots, and together, they taught famed aviator Charles Lindbergh to fly. Although Ethel passed in 1992, her legacy of educating future aviators lives on through this and other gifts.
This sophisticated level of training is on par with the preparation future pilots receive from industry airline partners. UNO is one of twelve universities nationwide partnered with Southwest Airlines through its Destination 225° program and one of sixteen universities nationwide partnered with United Airlines through its Aviate program. UNO was the first of only three universities to partner with both Southwest and United.
These pathway programs offer aspiring pilots the opportunity to set themselves on a career path with either airline, enabling them to be ready for the flight deck in as little as four years after graduation. UNO also maintains partnerships with regional airlines that operate under other industry giants such as American Airlines and Delta.
Vlasek believes the new flight simulator and participation in pathway programs with Southwest and United will boost student recruitment. Combined with UNO’s OUR Tuition program, which offers reduced tuition rates to students from 11 nearby states — many of which lack aviation programs — Vlasek said UNO is already attracting students from new areas. After tripling enrollment
over the past decade, Vlasek said trends project that the Aviation Institute will double its current enrollment by 2028.
While flight training can be expensive on top of tuition and fees, starting salaries often in the six-figure territory, even with regional airlines, can make it a worthwhile investment. “When parents see a clear path for their students to go from high school to college to a job, investing in flight training makes sense,” Vlasek said. “Knowing that you have a job, and a good paying job coming out of college makes that investment worthwhile.”
Since it was installed in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service building in Spring 2023, the Boeing 737 flight simulator has connected UNO’s Aviation Institute with future and current students as well as alumni.
“Something like this allows us to also give back to our alumni,” Vlasek said. “One of our alumni is getting ready to start at Southwest and has not flown a 737. He came in and was able to sit in the cockpit and run through some of the flows and checks. Working with our alumni is something we want. We’re here to help you. They’re still part of the UNO Aviation Institute family.”
With the momentum behind UNO’s Aviation Institute, the training tools at its disposal and partnerships with industry leaders, it’s only a matter of time before the skies above are home to even more Mavericks.