Flex Air Announces Income Share Agreement Initiative

Flex Air announced the launch of Via Careers,the first flight training program to offer Income Share Agreements (ISAs) as analternative to student loans.

“Flex Air is a company built around servingour students in what historically has been a financially difficult journey toan airline career,” said Paul Wynns, Flex Air CEO. “The air transportationindustry is in a period of unprecedented growth and opportunity. We think allskilled and dedicated student pilots should have access to that industry,regardless of credit history, co-signer availability, or other socio-economicfactors.”

Flex Air has collaborated with Leif to launchand manage an ISA program for Via Careers students. Student pilots bound forairline careers are an especially good fit for ISAs, says the company, due tothe widespread wage transparency, predictable career paths, and seniority-basedpay systems at all air carriers. ISAs remove the burden of upfront tuition costfor students, who, in exchange for their education, agree to pay a fixedpercentage of their income for a fixed duration after graduation when they areearning income above a minimum threshold. The power of the model is the accessit creates due to the clear alignment of interests between student pilot,flight school, and financial provider.

Demand for new pilots will exceed 200,000 inNorth America alone in the coming decades, according to recent estimatespublished by The Boeing Company. Flex Air estimates that this demand will drivemore than $21 billion in training revenue.