A dozen students with the McAllen Independent School district now have their pilot’s license.

The group completed the “Practicum in Transportation Systems” yearlong program at the McAllen Flight Academy.

Among the students who completed the program was Fabiola Morales, a senior at McAllen Memorial High School. She is the first female student to earn her private pilot's license from this program.

“Honestly, I had never thought of becoming a pilot or anything like that,” Morales said. “It's not like any other class where you learn something, and you don't really know how it applies to in real life. You get to actively see it happen."

This is the second year of the program. 

The students entered a raffle out of more than 150 students in the candidate pool to join the program for free, saving them more than $16,000 each.

McAllen ISD picks up the tab through state funding. The program helps students obtain a commercial, private and drone pilot license.

The nation is currently facing a commercial pilot shortage.

“The demand for pilots is so high at the moment, and the salaries are so high, that it makes sense for an individual — whether male or female — to actually look into this,” McAllen Flight Academy President Hector Zuniga said.

Experts predict the U.S. market will likely have a shortage of nearly 30,000 commercial pilots by 2030.

One issue experts say is contributing to that is the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots.

“It's kinda like a dying breed,” McAllen Flight Academy Head Flight Instructor Keola Zamora said. “The older generations are retiring, so we need to get that new generation up to date.”

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