ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – Thanks to a new partnership, aviation students at Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) with aspirations of becoming a pilot now have an opportunity to learn directly from experts from Endeavor Air.

In a signing ceremony Tuesday, Endeavor Air – a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines – officially made ECSU the latest focus school in its Student to Endeavor Pilot (STEP) program. Designed to help prepare aviation students and flight instructors for successful careers as pilots in the airline industry, the STEP program will bring Endeavor Air personnel to campus regularly to give presentations, answer questions, and conduct on-site interviews when the students and flight instructors are ready for the next phase of their preparation.

“We are excited about this partnership with Endeavor,” said Kuldeep Rawat, Thorpe Endowed professor and dean of the School of Science, Aviation, Health, and Technology. “This gives our students another opportunity for a career with an airline.”

Endeavor Air is equally excited for the partnership with ECSU to help “encourage and inspire students here to follow their dreams to a career of aviation,” said Ginny Zarras, vice president of human resources at Endeavor Air.

“At Endeavor Air, we promote diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the airline and our operation,” Zarras said. “We strive to create and support a culture where all employees are empowered to succeed at work, and one way we do that is by intentionally prioritizing diversity and inclusion when recruiting candidates to work at our airline.”

To participate, the students simply need to sign up and meet the criteria to graduate the aviation program. Successful completion of the aviation program and entry in the STEP program guarantees a priority interview with Endeavor Air, on-site at ECSU. Successful pilots will work at Endeavor which is part of the Delta Air Lines family. Endeavor is the only airline with a contractually guaranteed career pathway to Delta Air Lines for pilots. Endeavor pilots will have the chance to continue their career at Delta Air Lines if they choose.

While this marks ECSU’s sixth airline partnership, it is the second with Delta. In February 2023, ECSU and Delta formally announced the university’s entry to the Delta Propel program that offers students at select universities a defined path and accelerated timeline to become a Delta pilot.

About Elizabeth City State University 
Elizabeth City State University provides students with a high-quality, affordable education. A constituent member of the University of North Carolina System, ECSU develops courageous, resilient, and empowered leaders through excellent student-centered, experiential learning. ECSU offers baccalaureate, professional, and master’s degrees across a wide variety of disciplines. Come to Discover. Leave to Conquer. Visit www.ecsu.edu.