A new Winthrop program that simultaneously trains and certifies pilots while they work towards a bachelor’s degree aims to admit its first students in Fall 2026.
By Chase Duncan
Copy Editor
News
For generations, Americans have looked to the sky asking whether they’re seeing a bird or a plane, but soon people will be looking up and seeing a Winthrop Eagle flying a plane.
Winthrop University has publicly announced their partnership with ACES Flight School to simultaneously certify them as pilots while they take classes at Winthrop to graduate in four years with a Bachelor of Science in aviation and business management, tentatively set to admit students beginning in Fall 2026.
The school held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at one of the hangars at Rock Hill Airport on Nov. 19. Representatives from Winthrop University, ACES Flight School, Rock Hill Airport, the city of Rock Hill and the York County Chamber of Commerce attended to see the new program unveiled.
Winthrop president Edward Serna opened the ceremony by thanking the organizations present for their help in making the partnership possible, hoping that it will take the university to new innovative heights that address job needs.
“We are very fortunate in our location here in Rock Hill, that we are near a major city and an airport with a major airline hub, so it just made sense for us to look at ways that we could do this and address the pilot shortage that’s in the United States right now,” Serna said. “Winthrop University is a university on the rise, folks, and we’re on the rise because academic innovation is the engine that drives a thriving institution, and we challenged ourselves recently to be innovative, to drive that academic innovation.”
Sebastian Van Delden, Provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, is the man at Winthrop most responsible for securing the flight school partnership, garnering support from airline industry leaders and getting the program approved by the various state accreditation agencies.
Van Delden thanked the many people present from various sectors of the university and community who helped make the partnership possible and told the audience that the university-flight school partnership will be the opportunity of a lifetime.
“We’re staring down the runway, the boundless blue skies, the potential for this region and the entire state of South Carolina, and very soon we’ll get those last approvals to be cleared for takeoff,” van Delden said. “We’re going to gun it, and Winthrop and ACES will be roaring towards an exciting future of opportunities, opportunities that will shape the lives of generations of students and their families.”
ACES Flight School owner Kevin Kyzer thanked his family, his supportive customers, his team of instructors and the different entities involved in making his pilot school possible. He also thanked the university and the town of Rock Hill.
“It is truly an honor for me to be able to say that my flight school is affiliated with such a prestigious university and in a town like Rock Hill, where they’ve been so supportive, and with an airport manager that’s been so supportive and helping and being very patient, ladies and gentlemen, with me as we go through this process,” Kyzer said.
John Gettys, mayor of Rock Hill, praised the university for reaching out into the community to accomplish something great and spread growth within the local community of the city.
“And what I do think we’ll see is this airport continues to grow in its capacity, [and] will soon hopefully be recognized as a national reliever for big airports,” Gettys said. “As that happens, more people will learn about Winthrop.”
