When expanding on the flight training capabilities of the airport, Cruse notes that along with the training provided by Devils Lake Aero Service, another flight instructor from up north of the airport will come down to carry out flight training which brings the number of flight instructors to two. This is welcome news for the airport, Cruse acknowledges, as the need for trained pilots has not lessened of late, and any contribution on a regional level goes a little further to potentially help alleviate these ongoing pilot shortages. Cruse points out that the shortages do not just pertain to trained private or commercial pilots but extend also to the flight maintenance and the A&P side of aviation as well. Addressing this problem head-on, Cruse draws attention to the efforts the airport has made to host tours of the airport for kids in the area hoping to spark an interest in the world of aviation in some of them. “We get a lot of grade school tours that come out here.The young kids come here and tour the airport and the staff help to do this.” Cruse would like to take workforce development initiatives further in time. “We talked about [reaching out to local schools] 202 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 12
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