24-05-2025
Frankford High student pilot becomes certified flight instructor ready to teach next generation
The Brief
A Frankford High School student pilot becomes a certified flight instructor who's now giving back to the younger generation.
The program is a partnership between Frankford High's Aviation Academy and Tailwinds Academy of Aviation at Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
Students are exposed to viable career paths in the field of aviation where job demand is strong due to a shortage of pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians.
NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - Frankford High School's Aviation Academy is coming full circle now that one of their first student pilots has become a certified flight instructor at Tailwinds Academy of Aviation at Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
The backstory
"I've always been traveling from here to the Dominican Republic. That's usually where my family is… every time I would take a plane, I've always been curious," said Jonathan Suarez, a flight instructor at Tailwinds Academy of Aviation. "I am more centered and focused on helping the new generation that's coming up from the Frankford program be able to show them the path that I took in order for them to get all their certificates and be successful in this industry."
The flight program in the School District of Philadelphia is a partnership between Frankford High School and Tailwinds providing students with a scholarship to undergo flight training and become pilots.
"We try to recruit them from like 8th graders, 9th graders try to get them to come to Frankford and join the program," said Josh Bergerson, Aviation Teacher at Frankford High. "In our mind like six, seven years ago that was our end goal, you know, we have these students go train and come back and give back to the school right away while he's making good money working as a flight instructor."
Bergerson said the program offers introductory courses on aviation and exposes students to viable career paths in the field. They can include flight training, drone training and aviation maintenance training.
Viable career path
"We've come full circle. We're very excited. We know that flight training is a life-transforming experience. These kids have learned so much and they've changed and it's a privilege for me to watch them change," said Howard Cooper, the Founder and Executive Director of Tailwinds Academy of Aviation. "We like to fly so we're going to need more and more pilots, and we're delighted to add to that as a real viable career path."
Now, Malachi Vinns is following in the footsteps of Suarez as one of the student pilots from the Frankford Aviation Academy. In just one year, he did his first solo flight, passed the written exam, got his private license and is currently undergoing further training.
"I always admired pilots, but I never had any goal of becoming one until the opportunity arose and then I realized this is really an amazing thing to do," said Vinns.
Now Suarez and Vinns both share the goal of eventually becoming pilots for one of the airlines. To qualify, candidates must log a total of 1,500 hours of flight time which usually takes a few years to achieve.
