Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LANETT — Thursday’s Valleywide Christmas Parade will have something different this year.

Approximately one hour before the start of the 6 p.m. parade from Lanett, through downtown West Point to Valley, there will be a flyover from three planes flying from the Lanett Regional Airport.

Piloted by Lanett native Joe Neil, Kate Roberts and Paul Prim, the three Cessna 172 planes will head out from the airport toward Valley Walmart and head north toward West Point and circle back toward Walmart. They will be

between 1,700 and 2,200 feet above the ground and should be easily seen by anyone arriving early for the parade.

They will be flying in a single-file formation and underscoring the vast potential of Lanett Regional. They will also be making a statement about how much fun it is to fly a plane.

Lots of young people are finding that out while learning to fly at a flight school that’s taking place right now at the airport.

The current session is full, and there’s a waiting list of close to 30 people who are eager to learn this.

Matthew Bourguignon, owner of Blue Skies Above, believes that aviation is a great career for anyone to get into.

Pilot and co-pilot are the glamorous positions, but there’s also needs for aeronautical engineers, air traffic controllers, flight/cabin attendants, aircraft mechanics, airport planners, security managers and operations specialists.

To keep up with demand, the flight school has gone from having three verified instructors one year ago to having nine of them now.

“We have expanded our programs a lot in the past year,” Bourguignon said. “We have gone from having a couple of planes to having six. We have five Cessna 172s and a Cherokee. We are looking at expanding our flight school to five classes.”

The flight school has two aircraft that are technically advanced and has plans to modify some of the others to be technically advanced as well. Training in such aircraft can lead to being a pilot for commercial jets.

Technically advanced aircraft have digital screens instead of old-fashioned dials. They are much safer to land at night than the conventional planes.

Bourguignon said that Lanett Regional is a beautiful facility but does need more taxiway work before jets will land there frequently. There’s not enough room for them to turn around now after landing. They have to back up the runway, something that’s dangerous to do in case another plane needs to land.

“The taxiway needs to be finished, and we need to have jet fuel out here before this airport will really get busy,” he said.

Neil is the lead flight instructor. He grew up near Highway 50 in Lanett and likes being close to home. It’s a much shorter drive than the one he had when working at the airport in Peachtree City.

The flight school is looking at hosting a rally for Young Eagles in January. Sanctioned by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), there’s a Young Eagles chapter in Columbus. The organization gives youth between ages seven and 18 the opportunity to fly at no cost to them.

Ron Pless, a retired pilot with 20 years experience in the U.S. Air Force and 20 years in flying international cargo, has moved to Lanett and is a big booster of the airport. He serves on a planning committee that’s headed by Council Member Tony Malone.

“I think this airport is the city’s greatest asset,” Pless said. “It has a great future. It will be fun to watch it grow.”

That growth will depend on having an adequate taxiway and the kind of fuel needed by jet planes.

There’s also a need for a new road leading to the airport from Phillips Road. This would give much better access off I-85.

Thursday’s Christmas parade will start at 6 p.m. in Lanett.

Lining up will be taking place in the parking area between the Cherry Valley Shopping Center and Valley Point Funeral Home.

The parade will roll out onto North 12th Street, turn left in front of the Corner Store and head north along West 4th Avenue to the campus of Point University, where it will turn right onto West 10th Street, proceed one block before taking another right onto West 3rd Avenue, then go several miles south into Valley, where the parade will disband in the parking