Delta Connection Academy
The Delta Connection Academy is a flight school for prospective pilots wishing to enter a career as a commercial airline pilot. A subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, it is headquartered in Sanford, Florida at the Orlando Sanford International Airport. There are three other campuses around the United States. These are located in Houston, TX, Jacksonville, FL, and near Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The branches are operated in cooperation with San Jacinto College, Jacksonville University, and Broward Community College respectively.
The school also operated additional two branches which have recently closed or will close in the near future. The first, located in New Bedford, MA, closed November 2007. While the Massachusetts Branch was highly successful for many years, it is widely known to be mismanaged by it's second base manager, Loren Herren, beyond profitability. DCA could not maintain instructors, due to poor pay and awful work rules. It was also announced to aviation students at Sinclair Community College that the Dayton, OH facility, which opened in 2004, would close in March 2008. In a letter, DCA cited a lack of hours being flown at that base as the cause. Despite the agreement of a March closing date between Sinclair and DCA, the closing date has been moved up to January 2008.
History
The flight school began as Comair Aviation Academy, established by Comair. Delta Air Lines purchased Comair and all of its subsidiaries in January 2000. It was renamed to match the company's regional airline branding. They currently maintain a fleet of more than 110 aircraft, including Cessna 152, Cessna 172, Piper Arrow, and Piper Seminole aircraft. The school recently added new Cirrus SR-20 aircraft to replace the aging Cessna 152 and 172, 30+ of the SR20 are in operation. Pilots who graduate are not limited to Delta Connection airlines, and some go to other regional airlines, such as American Eagle and ExpressJet.