Aims eyes land near NoCo airport for aviation program

GREELEY — The Aims Community College Board of Trustees has voted to authorize negotiation for and purchase of a property near the Northern Colorado Regional Airport at Loveland in order to move the school’s aviation program.

The flight operations program is currently based at the Greeley-Weld County Airport near Greeley. Aims hopes to grow the program as a result of the move, which will give it greater access and visibility, according to Laura Coale, spokeswoman for Aims.

The Greeley-Weld Airport Board voiced its displeasure upon hearing the news.
“We are extremely disappointed to hear the news that Aims Community College has decided to pull its aviation program from Weld County and move it to Larimer County,” Mike Freeman, chairman of the Greeley-Weld County Airport Board, said in a statement submitted after Aims made its announcement. “Weld County residents have been the backbone of this college from day one as it is their tax dollars that provide the majority of the funding for the school. To now have the college take the aviation program to another county is an insult to the very people who allowed the college to foster the program in the first place.”

The aviation program at Aims is 50 years old and has graduated about 900 students in that time. The program has 73 students, but Aims hopes to double that number.

In December 2017, Aims received five newly leased 2017 Piper (PA-28-181) Archer III TX Aircraft Trainers, replacing the single-engine Cessna 172s. It also has flight simulators that will move to the new location if the school successfully completes its negotiations. The new location will permit Aims to modernize the program.

“On behalf of the Aims Community College Board of Trustees, we want to extend our sincerest gratitude to the Greeley-Weld County Airport for hosting our aviation program over the past 50 years,” said Dr. Ray Peterson, Aims Board of Trustees chairman, in a prepared statement. “Greeley-Weld County Airport has been a great partner, and this decision for a change in venue was made with the student at the heart of it. As we look to the next 50 years in Aims Aviation, NoCo Regional Airport better positions Aims Community College to grow and modernize our aviation educational experience for the student with cutting-edge technology at a commercial airport.”

The growth may come because of the new location.

“We looked at the students in our program and saw that 70 percent come from outside of Weld County. The Northern Colorado Regional Airport is still in our service area but with I-25 nearby it makes it more convenient for the students plus gives the program more visibility,” Coale said. About a third of the students are military veterans.

The school has an air-traffic-control program as well, but that is not moving at this time. They expect the ATC program to benefit from the move because of new technology employed at the regional airport.

“We’re hoping that this will help with the pilot shortage that is occurring,” Coale said. She referred to the recent news that Great Lakes Airlines, based in Cheyenne, has shut down passenger service at least in part because of a shortage of pilots. Great Lakes also has operations at Denver International Airport.

A recent study by Boeing measured the long-term demand for pilots and technicians, and found that 617,000 new airline pilots would be needed worldwide over the next 20 years, Aims said.

The Aims program is led by Eric Himler, a veteran of 25 years of experience flying in general, military and commercial aviation. Himler served for 20 years as a Naval aviator. His flight experience includes: Marine KC-130 Pilot, Blue Angel C-130 Demonstration Pilot and First Officer for Alaska Airlines. He has numerous FAA certifications and ratings including an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and a B-737 type rating.

Aims currently offers three Associate of Applied Science degree programs in aviation: general aviation pilot, professional pilot and air traffic control.

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