The Power of Flight School Scholarships
The LIFT Academy® flight training program, like any kind of further education, is an investment in your future. The initial cost of that investment can be offset by loans, financing options or scholarships, and further offset down the road with the six-figure earning potential of becoming a Captain at Republic Airways. To detail how a scholarship made a difference in his aviation journey, we spoke with Sean Padecky, First Officer at Republic Airways and recipient of the Future Aviators Charitable Foundation scholarship.
Why LIFT?
Sean’s interest in aviation began in his childhood, when his grandfather would take him flying in his Cessna; however, he didn’t pursue a career in aviation right away. Sean earned a business degree and spent years working in that field before deciding to pursue his passion. That’s when he started researching flight training programs and came across LIFT.
There are many factors that made LIFT Academy his ideal flight training school, such as our defined career pathway to Republic Airways and our accelerated training schedule – both of which were considerations for Sean.
“Once I had decided to switch careers, I knew I didn’t want to spend forever going through training,” said Sean. “With LIFT, I knew I could earn my ratings quickly and get right on the path to a career at Republic Airways. It was a win-win.”
Another important consideration for Sean was cost.
“Some other flight schools seemed cheap at first, until I started looking into the numbers,” Sean explained. “LIFT is transparent with its costs and provides a really great value with its tuition.”
LIFT’s tuition covers not only the cost of flying, training and FAA flight checks, but goes on to include other training tools and resources most schools either do not include, or charge extra for, over-and-above their published tuition cost. On top of that, scholarships can be applied alongside loans, which are available through Sallie Mae, Elements Financial and Stratus Financial.
The Scholarship Process
The scholarship Sean received, the Future Aviators Charitable Foundation scholarship, is unique in that students are nominated by staff members before going through the application process.
“I didn’t even know about this scholarship until I had been nominated,” said Sean. “Of course, I had to go for it once I learned about it, though.”
After applying and ultimately being awarded the scholarship, Sean and the other recipients were flown to Indianapolis for dinner. Following the dinner, the scholarship amount was automatically applied to his tuition costs, meaning he didn’t have to worry about extra steps or paperwork.
“This scholarship really made all the difference for me,” said Sean. “It was a big help financially, but it also reaffirmed that I was making the right choice in pursuing this career path.”
The Path to Republic Airways
After graduating from LIFT Academy, Sean continued on his path to Republic Airways by working at LIFT as a Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI).
“My goal was to get to Republic Airways,” Sean explained. “Working as a CFI was a great way to build the hours I needed to get there while making some extra money in the process.”
Your time at LIFT will set you up for success in many ways, including networking. When Sean started working as a CFI, he was excited to see some familiar faces.
“Some of the people that you’ll train with at LIFT are some of the same people that you’ll go on to fly with as CFIs, and possibly even at Republic,” said Sean. “So be genuine and make connections during your time at LIFT.”
Upon building enough flight hours, Sean started training at Republic Airways, where he noticed that the culture there felt familiar to the one he’d come to know at LIFT.
“There’s a real sense of community and collaboration on the ground at LIFT,” Sean said. “I feel that same energy here at Republic, which has helped make the transition that much easier.”
Advice for Future Aviators
When asked what advice he had for anyone considering applying for a scholarship, Sean had this to say: “Just go for it. You never know what can happen, so you might as well apply.”
Sean also wanted to share this for anyone considering training at LIFT Academy: “LIFT is an accelerated program, so you have to be ready to put in the hard work,” said Sean. “It’s absolutely worth every long night spent studying, though. So be ready to hustle, but know that it’ll pay off.”
Are you ready to hustle? Learn more or apply today at flywithlift.com.
