Having this (hangar) is going to help all of our students get more flight time in throughout the year. It means a lot because it is helping not only the school out but each of us individually with our own progress and training.
Bridgewater State’s newest building is firmly bolted to the ground, but it helps aviation science students like Molly Keenan, ’26, reach for the skies.
The new hangar at New Bedford Regional Airport protects BSU’s planes from adverse weather conditions, making them ready to fly when students need to take lessons.
“Having this is going to help all of our students get more flight time in throughout the year,” said Molly, noting that frost accumulates on unprotected planes forcing the cancelation of training sessions. “It means a lot because it is helping not only the school out but each of us individually with our own progress and training.”
BSU leaders, students, local lawmakers and City of New Bedford officials recently cut the ribbon on the new hangar. The facility was funded by a $1.358 million federal earmark secured with the support of U.S. Rep. Bill Keating and Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
The infusion of federal money also allowed BSU to purchase a multi-engine aircraft and offer a multi-engine rating. Students have been forced to attend other flight schools to obtain this rating, which is an essential prerequisite to flying for major airlines.
While the aviation program presents numerous logistical and financial challenges, BSU is committed to its future, said President Frederick W. Clark Jr., ’83.
“We believe in this program because of its importance to the industry,” Clark said, noting BSU is helping to meet the demand for pilots. “We will continue to invest in it going forward. We do it not just for industry but for our students.”
BSU, Clark said, offers the most affordable aviation program east of the Mississippi River. To that end, Clark announced two significant private donations in support of aviation students - including a $1 million scholarship fund established by the estate of Murray Randall and his partner, Jean Harley. Randall owned Myricks Airfield in Berkley and believed in making higher education accessible to lower income students.
Additionally, longtime BSU benefactor Louis Ricciardi, ’81, committed $25,000 per year for the next five years to reduce the cost to students to complete checkrides, which are required Federal Aviation Administration exams.
All of these investments make a meaningful difference for the aviation program’s more than 270 students as well as the New Bedford airport. BSU is responsible for approximately half of the flights out of the airport, and those takeoffs and landings help the facility qualify for greater federal funding.
For students, “it is a great morale boost,” said aviation science major JT Goudas, ’26 of Lenoir, North Carolina. “We haven’t seen this rapid growth of development in as short of a timeline as this one.”
JT and classmate Haley Nelson, of Littleton, Colorado, came to BSU specifically for the aviation program, which they said offers an ideal combination of classroom instruction and hands-on flying with small class sizes and easily accessible faculty.
“It gives you much more well-rounded knowledge to use in your career,” said Haley, who aspires to follow in her parents’ footsteps by flying for an airline. “It makes you a better pilot.”
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