SIU Aviation will be receiving seven new state-of-the-art Cessna 172s into its flight training program later this week at Southern Illinois Airport. Several SIU aviation program officials, including director José R. Ruiz and chief flight instructor Steven Goetz, along with several flight instructors, will be on-hand.
“I am very excited at the prospect of acquiring seven new flight training aircraft because of the impact the new additions will have on our ability to serve our students,” Ruiz said. “Our students deserve the finest flight training available, and these new aircraft will assist us in meeting that expectation.”
Plans are for 11 aviation personnel to fly to Independence, Kansas, to get the planes and return to Southern Illinois Airport about 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, weather permitting.
The aircraft are financed entirely by student aviation flight fees, the same funds that are used to pay for maintenance upgrades and fuel. There were more than 350 students in the aviation flight program in fall 2022, and Goetz expects that number or more in fall 2023.
Goetz said the newest planes are vital to SIU’s aviation program. The new planes, which will feature cutting-edge glass panel Garmin avionics, will increase to 47 the number of available planes for flight training students to use. The program still uses some planes that date back to the late 1970s, but Goetz explained that constant upgrades allow those planes to continue air worthiness.
“We use every bit of life out of them in order to make sure that we are being good stewards of our students’ money,” he said. “As the aviation industry grows, we have more and more demand for pilots and for flight training. Being able to bring on new airplanes that will allow our students to train on a modern flight deck and prepare for their careers better positions us to support the needs of the aviation industry in the nation.”
