by Nahlah Abdur-Rahman
January 5, 2026
With a shrinking expertise pool for pilots, Lookup Flight Academy hopes to fill the hole with various candidates.
A Black-owned flight faculty in Metro Atlanta has pledged one million {dollars} to get extra various pilots within the air.
Owned by Michael Ojo, Lookup Flight Academy is Gwinnett County’s first Black-owned flight faculty. Began in 2023, Ojo’s mission stays the identical: to coach and encourage pilots to take flight.
Now, this mission has grown even stronger within the new 12 months. Ojo has introduced a million-dollar scholarship program for aspiring pilots to hitch the academy and earn their licenses. For him, breaking down this financial barrier is one approach to get extra folks into an business that has traditionally regarded a technique.
“Once you don’t see somebody who appears to be like such as you in a pilot uniform, likelihood is you’re not even interested by it,” Ojo mentioned to WSB-TV.
Given Lookup Flight Academy’s latest Half 141 certification, the federal recognition additionally opens extra grant and monetary support alternatives for potential college students. By its nonprofit funding, this cash can go towards scholarships, particularly for pilots of colour.
“It’s about ending the generational cycle of poverty that plagues Black and brown communities,” added Ojo.
These scholarships will tremendously assist practice pilots from underserved backgrounds. In line with the Federal Aviation Administration, nonwhite pilots stay scarce. For Black folks particularly, these working within the industrial airline business account for five% of all working pilots.
The million-dollar pledge will unfold throughout the following 20 years, providing a profitable and thrilling profession pathway for generations to come back. One pupil, Troi Miller, has already taken benefit of this chance. Her entrance into flight faculty is particularly related, as gender disparities stay related. In line with figures listed by Girls in Aviation Worldwide, ladies symbolize 10% of all industrial pilots.
Whereas the boundaries persist, Miller refuses to let the glass ceiling maintain her again. As others be a part of her cohort at Lookup Flight Academy, she hopes to steer the cost for ladies of colour guiding the skies.
“The sky is aware of no colours,” Miller mentioned. “It shouldn’t have any limitations.”
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