State leaders gather for the official opening of the Bill Noe Flight School.
On Aug. 10, 2021, Marshall University moved one step closer to assuming its role as a leader in the nation’s aviation industry when the ribbon was cut on the Bill Noe Flight School’s Maier Aviation Building. More than 100 people were on hand for the event including leaders from across West Virginia.
The state-of-the-art Maier facility, measuring approximately 10,000 square feet, and the hangar, which is approximately 12,000 square feet, both located at the newly renamed West Virginia International Yeager Airport in Charleston, welcomed the school’s first class of around 20 students in the fall of 2021. Future plans are to expand the enrollment to 200 students a year. The hangar houses Marshall’s fleet of aircraft, including the Kelly green Cirrus SR20 planes that students will use for most of their instruction. Students will graduate with a Commercial Pilot: Fixed Wing Bachelor of Science degree. The coursework they complete in the program leads to the Federal Aviation Administration certifications needed to be a commercial pilot.
Plans for the flight school began in 2018, with multiple partners collaborating to make the vision a reality. In addition to Marshall University and Yeager Airport, Tri-State Airport and Mountwest Community and Technical College are working with Marshall to establish an associate degree program in aviation maintenance technology, beginning later in 2022. It is hoped that having a local pool of highly qualified and in-demand graduates of these programs will also attract aviation industries to locate in the Huntington-Charleston area, giving the region’s economy a boost.
The school is named for Marshall alumnus Bill Noe, former Marshall University Hall of Fame swimmer, pilot and business executive. Noe has decades of
experience in the aviation industry, eventually becoming the president and COO of Ohio-based NetJets. To assist in the school’s development, Noe is serving as executive aviation specialist for the new programs, volunteering his time to advise the school’s leaders. To recognize Noe for this support, the flight school was named in his honor.
With a projected need for 10,000 new pilots in the United State per year for the next 20 years, Marshall has good timing in establishing an aviation school. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, pilots can expect to earn a median yearly salary of $93,300. Graduates of the Bill Noe Flight School will be in demand throughout the country, providing a new network of ambassadors for the Huntington-Charleston region and Marshall University.
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Photos (from top right):
Bill Noe is serving as executive aviation specialist for the new flight school programs, volunteering his time to advise the school’s leaders.
Immediate Past President Jerome Gilbert and President Brad D. Smith are both strong supporters of the flight school.
Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Leaders from across West Virginia participated in the ribbon-cutting officially opening the Bill Noe Flight School on Aug. 10, 2021.
More than 100 people were on hand for the event at the new facility at Yeager Airport in Charleston.