The OneSky Flight Innovation Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Research Park in Daytona Beach, Florida is to expand in size and student programming, with a goal of offering relevant experiences that expose students to a broad array of lucrative career opportunities in the business aviation industry.

An Embry-Riddle Research Park partner since 2017, the OneSky Innovation Center plans a nearly five-fold expansion of its existing space in the business incubator's cornerstone facility, the John Mica Engineering and Aerospace Innovation Center (MicaPlex). Under a new agreement with Embry-Riddle, OneSky's Research Park footprint will encompass office and research space; meeting areas to stimulate transformative thinking by student organisations; and a student lounge complete with a coffee bar to promote collaboration and introduce students to the business aviation industry.

OneSky Flight is a portfolio of business aviation companies and includes brands such as Flexjet, a leader in fractional jet ownership, and Sentient Jet, one of the first companies to create the jet card.

“As a company that is almost exclusively focused on business aviation, we believe there is a great opportunity to expose students to exceptional career paths that they might not have been aware of previously,” says OneSky Flight's chief administrative officer Robert Sullivan. “Business aviation as a profession offers many unique advantages relative to traditional commercial aviation career paths that we believe will be appealing to a large number of students as they prepare to enter the professional workforce.”

Embry-Riddle president Barry Butler notes that the university's mission is well served through the partnership with OneSky. “We have been honoured to collaborate with OneSky to broaden career opportunities for our students and provide an important talent pipeline for the industry,” Butler says. “As the global leader in aviation and aerospace higher education, Embry-Riddle's top priority is to prepare students for productive careers and leadership roles in the field. Our partnership with OneSky advances excellence in education while also addressing workforce needs.”

As part of the relationship, OneSky's management information system department offers business aviation-focused internship opportunities to Embry Riddle students who are pursuing their degrees. Recent projects have included the development of artificial intelligence algorithms related to advanced demand modelling for OneSky operating companies. The internship programme reached an exciting milestone this past month when several former interns were hired as full-time employees with OneSky companies following their graduation.