Alkan Air and Yukon College partner to offer Aviation Management diploma

WHITEHORSE—Yukon College is now accepting applications for a new Aviation Management diploma to be offered in partnership with Alkan Air’s Flight Training Unit. The two-year program is designed for students who wish to obtain a commercial pilot license while simultaneously learning practical business skills relevant to today’s aviation industry.

Students in the 60 credit program will graduate with both a private and a commercial pilot’s licence (30 credits). The remaining 30 credits will consist of 10 courses at Yukon College which must include Wilderness First Aid, Outdoor Pursuits and Leadership and the Yukon First Nations core competency, as well as business courses options, including communications, management, marketing, human resources, and commercial law.

Thomas Chretien has already enrolled with the Flight Training Unit and hopes to obtain a private pilot licence this summer. He is eager to enrol in the new diploma.

”This is great timing. I begain looking at flight school options last summer and was prepared to move to Vancouver. Being able to train here at home is much more cost effective,” said 22-year-old Chretien. “Having the diploma and not just a commercial pilot license widens the scope of aviation jobs I am eligible for.”

Learning to fly is an expensive endeavour; the total cost of obtaining both licenses is $43,619, with the diploma courses a further $3450. However, as full or part-time students, those enrolled in the diploma will now be able to access educational financing and support open to all post-secondary students.

“Student pilots in Yukon are able to gain more flight hours in a shorter space of time thanks to our long summer daylight. Also, the mountainous terrain and quick-changing weather present a greater variety of challenges which helps create skilled, well-rounded pilots,” said Dan Rosen, pilot and manager, Flight Training Unit at Alkan Air.

A private pilot licence requires a minimum of 45 hours flight training plus radio operation and ground school training, passing a Transport Canada exam and a class 3 Civil Aviation medical test. A commercial pilot’s licence requires a minimum of 200 hours total flight time, including night flying and 30 hours solo flying, plus ground school training, passing a Transport Canada exam and a class 1 Civil Aviation medical test.

“With the inclusion of valuable wilderness survival and first aid training and the First Nations core competency, graduating students will be better equipped to work in the North,” said Margaret Dumkee, dean, Applied Science and Management at Yukon College. “The diploma also postions graduates to take on aviation industry management roles and pursue a full business diploma or degree in the future.” 

Alkan Air offers 30 minute Discovery Flights for $99 to help students determine if flying is right for them.

More information on the Aviation Management diploma can be found at yukoncollege.yk.ca/programs or at the Alkan Air Open House on Saturday April 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Eric Neilson International Airport.