Aboriginal pilots to benefit

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If you're an Aboriginal pilot, or even if you're just thinking of becoming one, there's a new organization designed to help you get off the ground.

The Canadian First Nations Pilot Association was started by pilot Stephen Pierro as a network for Aboriginal pilots from across the country.

The association has been around as a Web-based entity for about a year now, and work is now underway to formalize the organization.

The association has a mission statement, business plan, constitution and bylaws in place, and a number of established pilots have expressed interest in being on the association's board of directors.

"The next step is getting the support from the communities, and from the other Aboriginal pilots," Pierro said. "There are so few of us. We figure there may be 100 Aboriginal pilots in Canada. That's just a rough guess, because there hasn't been any statistics done on it."

So far, the association has attracted about 30 members, coming from all parts of Canada.

Pierro started the Web site last year, after he graduated from the aviation diploma program offered by the First Nations Technical Institute.

"After I graduated, I was looking for work, and I couldn't find anywhere on the net that would help me, as an Aboriginal. So I started this Web site to get some Aboriginal pilots together through the net, and maybe give young people a place to turn. Say they're interested in aviation. Then they would have a place to go and get some information," he said.

"We hope to provide mentoring, maybe getting some of the pilots who are established already in the industry to maybe go into the communities and talk as role models, to show the young people that they can do it. That it is possible," Pierro said.

"The main purpose is to develop a network of Aboriginal pilots who will give each other a heads up of where the jobs are. Once you graduate, it's so difficult to get a job, because once you graduate from flight school, you're a low time pilot, and a lot of businesses, a lot of places, don't want to hire low time pilots," he said.

"The magic number is usually about 500 hours to get hired on somewhere, for insurance purposes. Unless you meet up with a company that's willing to take you on."

He encourages those thinking about a career in aviation to "go for it."

"It's fun. It's a great experience to be flying."

For more information about the Canadian First Nations Pilot Association, visit the association Web site at http://www3.sympatico.ca/spierro, or e-mail Pierro at fnpa@canada.com.