Helicopter Partnership to Help Careers Take Flight

Many industries are facing a critical shortage of talent as Baby Boomers retire, including helicopter pilots. A lot of the helicopter pilots flying today were trained by the U.S. Army for the Vietnam War and are approaching mandatory retirement age, says Bruce Cultrera, president and CEO of Seacoast Helicopters, which has partnered with Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth to offer a new associate degree in aviation technology starting this fall to meet a growing need for helicopter pilots.

The two-year program will combine classroom time at Great Bay, located at Pease Tradeport, and flight instruction at Seacoast Helicopters, which is one quarter of a mile down the road. Cultrera says this is the only helicopter-training program offered in collaboration with a community college in the Northeast. “You don’t have to have a college degree to be a professional pilot, but it sets you apart from the rest,” Cultrera says. “The Northeast was noticeably void of programs and that is what started the ball rolling in my head at least.”

Seacoast Helicopters has seven employees and was founded in 2013. The number of industries using helicopters is expanding, says Will Arvelo, president of Great Bay Community College. Pilots provide flights ranging from scenic tours and air taxi services (like a cab in the sky) to assisting with rescues and transporting utility crews and equipment to hard-to-reach places, Cultrera says. His business is growing and will be hiring graduates.

The program has been approved by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and is awaiting approval to offer federal financial aid and tuition reimbursement through the GI bill. The aim is to start with 10 students this fall, Arvelo says. “The way I see it, this is one component of a larger program we will build out over time to serve the aviation industry in the Seacoast,” Arvelo says. Interest in the program is broad, he says, and includes those changing careers and those with a military background. “In every case, these are programs that will lead to good jobs,” Arvelo says.