What was once a lobby and a TSA checkpoint for passengers flying to and from Columbia Regional Airport is now a set of classrooms and offices.
Moberly Area Community College, or MACC, has completed a remodel of the old terminal, retrofitting the building to become the home of its forthcoming commercial pilot training program.
Airport manager Mike Parks said the partnership offered the chance to repurpose the vacated space.
“We don't want a building just sitting empty. We want to make sure that we can use it the best way possible,” Parks said. “So it looked like a good opportunity to partner with a local college to make that happen.”
Since the terminal closed for commercial airline passengers, the city has removed two small, ancillary buildings and Parks said they are still working on cleaning up a few areas.
In recent years, there’s been growing demand for air travel. Additionally, a wave of pilot retirements that began during the COVID-19 pandemic has created a shortage.
MACC President Todd Martin said the effects of low staffing levels at commercial airlines hit areas like Columbia first.
“The large airlines pulled a lot of pilots out of the small regional airlines, and that was impacting Columbia's ability to attract new routes,” Martin said.
The college plans to launch a pilot training academy by fall 2026 that includes two years of classroom study and flight training. Student pilots will take off and land commercial planes on the same runways used by American Airlines at the Columbia airport.
The idea for the commercial pilot program was born from conversations between local government officials and community college leaders. Parks said a pilot academy also has the potential to boost the Mid-Missouri economy by attracting students — and potentially pilots — to the area.
“The partnership between MACC and the city of Columbia is very positive for everyone in Mid-Missouri, and we're excited to be able to use that old facility in a way to make a difference in aviation,” he said.
This is the second such partnership between MACC and the city of Columbia. The community college also leases airport space to train students in its commercial drivers license program.
Program preparing for takeoff
The regional community college is finalizing an agreement with a flight school provider — a contracted entity that will provide planes for training, certified flight instructors and maintain the certificates required by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Getting a new program off the ground for a college has a lot of moving pieces normally,” Martin said. “This program, we then throw on top of that, working with the FAA and so that adds an entirely new level of complexity to the entire process.”
Graduates from the two-year pilot school will receive an associate of applied science degree, a private pilot’s license and 250 to 300 hours of flight time. To qualify for positions with passenger airlines, pilots generally need a minimum of 1,500 hours in the air.
Applications for MACC’s commercial pilot training program are expected to be available early next year. The college will offer an “Intro to Aviation” course next spring for prospective students, taught by program director and retired airline pilot Ed Longoria.
Longoria said the school day for future students will include hands-on flight experience in the mornings when the air is generally calm and classwork at the former Columbia airport terminal in the afternoons.
