School Drops Program to Train Foreign Pilots

One of the nation’s largest aviation colleges is dismantling its foreign pilot training program, hobbled by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and an airline industry slump. Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation will temporarily replace the program with one that trains American and foreign students. It still will allow students to become certified to fly in either Europe or the U.S.

Foreign student enrollment is down this year to 26 students -- all of whom will graduate this spring -- from a peak of 126 in 1999, a school spokesman said.