Direct Connect Flight Academy is proud to partner with Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) — a partnership that shortens the road to an airline career for degree-seeking pilots, and one that earned national coverage in Flying magazine.
What the partnership means for students
Through this partnership, MSU Denver’s professional pilot students train with DCFA and qualify for a Restricted Airline Transport Pilot (R-ATP) certificate at 1,000 flight hours — instead of the standard 1,500. That’s a full one-year head start toward the flight deck.
MSU Denver became Colorado’s only four-year institution with FAA-approved R-ATP eligibility, and the pathway is designed to be flexible:
- Students can begin flight training at a partner community college, complete two years there, and transfer to MSU Denver while keeping their R-ATP eligibility.
- The combined degree-plus-flight-training path gets graduates to the regional airlines sooner, with a four-year degree in hand.
Featured in Flying magazine
The partnership was announced in Flying — read the full story here: MSU Denver & Direct Connect Flight Academy Announce Partnership.
Interested in the MSU Denver pathway?
If you’re an MSU Denver student — or considering the program — reach out and we’ll walk you through how the accelerated R-ATP path works and what it takes to get started.