Life in the Air: FNTI’s Flight Students Fly Home To Serve

First Peoples' flight training is based on the indigenous "way of knowing."

Friday, December 03, 2021 at 06:19 PM ET

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Rainbow Ford, Daniella Petitti and pilot examiner Jo-Anne Tabobandung after the program’s first flight test by all-Indigenous women. Courtesy FNTI

Key Takeaways:

The First Peoples’ Aviation Technology Program at Ontario’s First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI) trains Indigenous students to become commercial pilots.
A primary goal for these students is to serve their remote First Nations communities by providing vital air transport for people and supplies, especially to areas accessible only by air.
The program uniquely integrates First Nations traditions, language, heritage, and an Indigenous "way of knowing" into its curriculum, focusing on living in harmony with nature and culturally informed decision-making.
Since its inception in 1989, FNTI has significantly increased Indigenous participation in the aviation sector and actively promotes gender equality, with nearly 40 percent female enrollment.

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On a hilltop overlooking a river canyon somewhere in Canada many generations ago, a First Nations elder might have watched an eagle soar gracefully along on the winds and wondered what it would be like if he too could fly. That would respect his Indigenous belief that humans are deeply connected to everything they see—the wind, water, animals, sky and the Earth itself.

Fast-forward to today, and the First Peoples’ Aviation Technology Program at Ontario, Canada’s First Nations Technical Institute is making that wish a reality. For many of the flight students in the program, their ultimate goal is not to end up with an airline job; instead, they desire to become certified by Transport Canada so they can go back home and serve their communities as commercial pilots.