ATLANTA, GA – Delta Air Lines and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) today celebrate the 10th anniversary “Dream Flight” that will transport young aviation students on a visit to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Washington, D.C.
Delta co-sponsors OBAP’s Aviation Career Education (ACE) camp, two, week-long summer programs for teenagers who have an interest in pursuing careers in aviation. The intensive camps, held primarily at Delta’s World Headquarters in Atlanta, teaches students aviation history, aerodynamics, meteorology, navigation and flight simulator orientation with qualified flight instructors. Select graduates from ACE Camp are invited back the following year to participate in Flight Line, an in-depth seminar that focuses specifically on pilot training, including allowing students to perform solo flights during their week-long training. Delta also is in its 10th year of supporting ACE camps in Minneapolis.
As part of the final week of training, all camp students are transported on the “Dream Flight” to a daylong field trip at a major aviation facility. Past trips have included visits to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.; the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio; and the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“Delta is proud to continue its longstanding partnership with OBAP through our support of the Dream Flight, ACE Camps and Flight Line,” said Stephen Dickson, Delta’s senior vice president – Flight Operations. “We see the commitment of time, resources and facilities as an invaluable investment in promoting aviation education and interest.”
Delta donated a Boeing 757 aircraft for the trip, which will carry more than 150 aviation students — many of whom are taking their first commercial flight. Students will be guided on a tour of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center which houses numerous aviation artifacts including the space shuttle Enterprise; the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet in the world; and the Boeing B-29 Enola Gay.
Delta and OBAP have introduced thousands of students to careers in aviation, four of whom have gone on to become commercial pilots. On Friday, students from the ACE and Flight Line camps will take part in the 2009 graduation ceremonies held at Delta’s Atlanta Training Center.