A new partnership may be taking off between
Bowling Green State University and a private company that would manage the flight school component of the
aviation studies program.The university would continue to handle classroom instruction, but flight lessons
would be overseen by North Star Aviation, which operates a similar program with Minnesota State University
Mankato.Bill Davis, board president of the Wood County Regional Airport Authority, explained to Wood County
commissioners Tuesday that some details are yet to be arranged, but he sees the partnership as a way for
BGSU to reduce program expenses associated with owning and maintaining aircraft.North Star requested
discounted fuel from the airport as part of the deal, which doesn’t seem to be an agreeable term."It
looks like that may be very difficult to do," Davis said, noting that 80 percent of fuel sold at the
airport is for flight instruction.But more likely is an arrangement in which BGSU would transfer some
airport land at the corner of East Poe Road and Tarragon Drive so that the company could construct new
hangar and classroom space. The existing facilities further east, facing Poe Road, would be torn down and
the land given back to the airport.Davis said North Star plans to double the capacity of the flight school
program to 300."If they do that, then it’s going to be good for everybody."At first, instruction
would likely be open only to students, with private lessons potentially being opened up further down the
road.Several factors make Bowling Green an ideal location for a flight program, Davis said. It is one of
only a few colleges with an airport within walking distance of campus. At Minnesota State, for example,
students must travel 30 miles to an airfield.Northwest Ohio is also a draw because, unlike schools in the
Southwest, weather variations allow for training in less than ideal conditions.Rob Riday, also a member of
the airport authority board, predicted that conditions are ripe for North Star to have success in expanding
the BGSU program."I think we’re just at the beginning of a big upswing in the commercial pilot field.
It’s been down so long," he said."It’s going to be a big hiring boom."