Flight Schedule Pro Announces Partnership with Sallie Mae® to Redefine Student Financing for Flight Training

Associated Press

20-05-2025

Trusted Lending Meets Trusted Data—Bringing Higher Ed Rigor to Aviation Education
KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Flight Schedule Pro, the aviation industry's most widely used platform for training operations, has partnered with Sallie Mae® to offer students responsible financing options as they track their training milestones on their path to becoming pilots.
This exclusive partnership offers approved schools in all 50 states a trusted private student lending option for qualified students. In addition to using Flight Schedule Pro for scheduling, training, and billing, students will be able to track their Sallie Mae® private student loan disbursements throughout their program, providing a fully integrated student experience—from loan to logbook. The partnership also enhances analytics for flight schools and instructors, improving coaching, graduation rates, and operations.
'Flight schools are the backbone of our industry, and their work is nothing short of heroic,' said Nick Wegner, CEO of Flight Schedule Pro. 'As pilots ourselves, we know what it takes to chase the dream of flight—and we build every solution with that journey in mind. By partnering with Sallie Mae, a trusted and well-capitalized lender, we ensure students have the opportunity to reach their first destination: the left seat of a professional cockpit.'
For decades, aspiring pilots have faced financial hurdles, with little transparency or predictability in how funds were used. Now, Flight Schedule Pro and Sallie Mae® are partnering to deliver a new model—one that mirrors the standards and structure of modern higher education.
'This collaboration brings responsible, career-focused lending and new levels of transparency to flight training at a critical moment for the industry,' said Patrick Freeman, senior vice president and general manager of private student lending and deposits at Sallie Mae. 'We're proud to play a role in helping aspiring aviators access the tools they need to stay on track and complete their programs with confidence.'
Running a flight school today means juggling far more than aircraft and airspace—it's about maximizing fleet utilization, ensuring CFI performance, increasing student throughput, and delivering on career outcomes. Yet without a consistent benchmark for training success, schools have lacked the data to grow efficiently. Flight Schedule Pro is changing that. By working hand-in-hand with our flight school partners, we're creating a new performance framework for aviation training—one that helps schools track outcomes, optimize resources, and build sustainable, student-first operations.
Together, we are setting a new standard in aviation training and financing -- mirroring the accessibility and structure of traditional higher education. 'This is a milestone moment,' said Nick Wegner, CEO of Flight Schedule Pro. 'Student pilots deserve more than a loan—they deserve a flight plan for their career. By embedding loan tracking into the heart of the training journey, we're not only making it easier to access flight training, we're creating accountability for both students and schools.'
Flight Schedule Pro is the only platform that tracks student progress at scale, and with the trust of the nation's top flight schools. In Q1 2025 alone, over 70 new schools joined the platform. The integration and student progress dashboards were built and tested in collaboration with the needs of Part 141 flight schools.
Flight schools already using the new integration are seeing the impact firsthand—both operationally and financially:
'We used to spend hours every month chasing down student loan details across multiple portals. Now, having everything in one place—with a clear view of each student's financial standing—not only saves time but gives us confidence in the accuracy of our data. This is a transformative improvement to our accounting process.'
— Keara Neifach, Director of Operations, ATD Flight Systems
'This is the first solution that truly connects the dots between student training and financing. It's a whole new level of visibility and control.'
— Robert Ferree, CEO, High Flight Academy
The program's staged rollout is already underway, with early adopters beginning implementation. Interested flight schools ready to transform how they support career-focused students are encouraged to complete this form to express interest and secure a spot in the rollout.
About Flight Schedule Pro
Flight Schedule Pro is the leading platform for flight training operations, trusted by more than 1,400 flight schools and academies around the world—including institutions that train pilots for major airlines like United, American, Delta, and British Airways. The platform supports over 60,000 student pilots and 16,000 instructors annually, helping them manage scheduling, progress tracking, and operations across 12,000+ aircraft. Now part of the Flight Schedule Pro ecosystem, LogTen Pilot Logbook is the most downloaded and awarded digital logbook in aviation, with more than 300,000 pilots relying on it to manage their careers. Flight Schedule Pro is the most complete, scalable, and trusted ecosystem in aviation education. Learn more at flightschedulepro.com
Flight Schedule Pro is a technology company, not a lender. Loans are provided by partner banks and licensed lenders.
Media Contact:
Bryan Landaburu, Chief Marketing Officer, Flight Schedule Pro
[email protected]
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SOURCE Flight Schedule Pro