PHOENIX — Mesa Air Group Inc., the Phoenix-based regional airline that operates flights for United Airlines and American Airlines, has made a multimillion-dollar investment into a fleet of small training aircraft to build a workforce development program to try to combat the pilot shortage.
Mesa Air purchased 29 Pipistrel Alpha Trainer 2 aircraft that will be used in its new pilot development program, which will provide recent pilot school graduates the opportunity to accumulate the 1,500 flight hours needed to operate a commercial aircraft.
The regional airline is establishing its first development program operation in Florida and said that within the next year it will open another location in Arizona. The company has the option to buy 75 additional Pipistrel aircraft. Pipistrel is a European aircraft manufacturer based in Slovenia.
