Eight months after FedEx Express (FedEx) announced its Purple Runway – A FedEx Pathways Program, an “industry-leading pilot development program designed to produce the pilots of tomorrow” the company is providing $2.5 million to create scholarships dedicated to easing the financial burden of rising education costs on the next generation of aviation professionals.
In a speech on March 22 at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi, FedEx chairman and CEO Frederick Smith said Purple Runway would play an important role in the continuing growth and success of FedEx Express and its third-party feeder operators in the company’s feeder fleet.
FedEx subsidiary, FedEx Express, is providing $2.5 million to create scholarships dedicated to easing the financial burden of rising education costs on the next generation of aviation professionals.
FedEx Express created scholarship programme and is collaborating with six universities and technical schools from around the United States that provide education and training for aspiring pilots, aircraft maintenance technicians and other aviation professionals.
“E-commerce is driving increasing demands on both air and ground transportation networks at a time when large numbers of workers in these fields are retiring, or nearing retirement,” FedEx Express CEO David Cunningham said.
“We are working with schools to strengthen the pipeline of talented and diverse pilots, mechanics and other aviation professionals. The FedEx Purple Runway Aviation Scholarship helps lay that foundation for an individual to have a promising and successful career in the industry that FedEx Express created.”
