The Flying Classroom Bombardier Academy graduated its first class of 30 students today at the NBAA regional forum at Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport (KOPF). Announced at NBAA 2019, the academy is a partnership between Barrington Irving’s Flying Classroom and Bombardier to familiarize college students, military veterans, and technical school students of what business aviation has to offer career-wise.

According to Irving, the first class—the Bombardier AMT Academy—was delayed due to the pandemic. He said that all 30 students had perfect attendance records for the three-week course, which familiarized them with the full Bombardier business jet line-up and gave them real-world hands-on experience from Part 147 instructors. Other three-week courses, which are free and held on a rotating schedule, include the Bombardier Aftermarket Academy and Bombardier Avionics Academy.

At the conclusion of a course, graduates can be offered jobs at Bombardier service centers, internships, or other opportunities. In fact, many of the first class have been offered jobs at Bombardier’s Fort Lauderdale service center, which will be moving to a larger facility at KOPF later this year.

Also under the partnership, Bombardier has provided Irving with a Learjet 40XR to use for aviation STEM outreach at high schools and colleges in the U.S.