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were available. The two partial exceptions occurred during the hiring booms of the mid-1960s and the late 1980s. During the first boom, airlines came as close as they ever have in this country to assuming responsibility for ab initio training, when some hired civilian pilots with only a private pilot certificatealthough, at least at United, employment was apparently contingent on the pilot's receiving a self-funded commercial license (Blue Ribbon Panel, 1993:17; Warwick and Randall, 1993:36). Carriers were soon able to return to their traditional dependence on military-trained pilots, however. Despite the existence of numerous collegiate aviation education programs, there were few examples of industry-education partnerships, nor did the industry show much interest in influencing the direction of collegiate aviation programs. Not surprisingly, when carriers did begin to look at collegiate aviation to help avert the shortages predicted during the 1980s boom, they often found that collegiate programs offered only introductory courses, relied on old technology and equipment in their classrooms and laboratories, and had few faculty with aviation industry experience. In the future, however, the prospect of a long-term reduction in the availability of military trained pilots is likely to change the role of collegiate programs and their relationships with the airlines. Numerous initiatives undertaken in the late 1980s indicate the potential for more productive industry-education collaboration. A spate of magazine articles describing these initiatives (e.g., Glines, 1990; Nelms, 1988; Parke, 1990; Aviation Week & Space Technology, 1989; Wallace, 1989), as well as a congressional hearing (U.S. Congress, 1989), testified to the level of concern about shortages and to the responsiveness of both airlines and schools. Northwest worked with the University of North Dakota to create the ab initio program described above. United forged relationships with Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and other schools (now totaling 20) to provide internships for advanced undergraduate aviation students at United's Denver training facilities; participants receive airline-oriented training, and some successful completers have interviewed with United for second officer (flight engineer) positions. Before Eastern ran into the financial difficulties that eventually led to its bankruptcy and disappearance, the company had begun to forge relationships with two-year colleges to jointly prepare flight candidates; Eastern advised on the development of programs geared to airline requirements, on curriculum, and on flight standards. The airline also provided faculty for classroom instruction and was considering expanding its school involvement to aviation maintenance and avionics. Mesa Airlines developed a flight program in cooperation with San Juan College in New Mexico that in five semesters (including a summer session) was designed to provide students with an associate's degree in aviation technology, up to 300 hours of flight time, a commercial license with instrument and multiengine ratings, and (for successful graduates) a guaranteed job interview. Mesa agreed to waive its 1,500 total flight time requirement for program graduates who performed to airline standards. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
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