Utah aviation school has international appeal

In 1979, Susan Horstman became the first female pilot hired by Pan American World Airlines. Today, she is keeping one of Salt Lake City’s busiest flight schools in the air. Horstman, 56, is Chief Executive Officer of Cornerstone Aviation, a privately owned flight school that specializes in training students who want any rating from sport pilot to airline transport pilot certification. The flight school operates facilities in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Provo, and controls a fleet of about 17 single- and multi-engine planes. “People are always going to fly,” Horstman said. She was referring to the recent national flap over exorbitant fuel prices, rising costs for air travel and industry job cut backs. According to published studies: “. . . domestic airfares are up this summer 12 percent to 15 percent and on some routes more than 200 percent.” Horstman said a flight student might spend as much $50,000 securing the accreditation to pursue an airline pilot position. New pilots typically earn a salary of only about $22,000, during their first year of probationary flying. Pay does, however, increase during a pilot’s second year. Adding to the uncertainty is a highly publicized cloud of bankruptcy currently hanging over some national and regional airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the government agency that regulates and oversees all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S. Cornerstone Aviation is a FAA approved Part 141-flight-school, the highest rating given by the government agency. Horstman, however, isn’t just circling in a holding pattern waiting for domestic airlines to heal from their current ills. She is reaching out to foreign markets to recruit students and expand her business. To that end, Horstman has begun enrolling students from India and China who will train for pilots’ licenses in the Salt Lake City area. She said Cornerstone’s international division offers a monthlong, pre-enrollment course to assure that the students can speak English well enough to complete their flying lessons. Even though the availability of airline jobs can serve as a gauge for the health of the industry, for some people, the call to fly is not solely determined by a push to make money.
05/09/08 Von Jones/Salt Lake Tribune, United States