Flying the Flames: Liberty aviation grads pilot charter flight for football team

Two Liberty University alumni had the special opportunity to cheer on their alma mater in the skies on Friday afternoon.

Allegiant Airlines captain Lance Welch (’10) and first officer Mathias Torres (’19) arrived in Lynchburg on the Airbus A320 for Flames Football’s charter to Shreveport, La., ahead of Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against Louisiana Tech.

Welch and Torres will ferry the plane from Shreveport to Monroe, La., where they will pick the team up after the game and fly them back to Lynchburg.

“This is awesome,” said Welch, who is based in Florida and has flown for Allegiant since 2015. “It’s just super cool that we’re all on the same team. I’m so glad I was able to do it.”

Welch has had connecting flights through Roanoke, but this was the first time he had returned to Lynchburg Regional Airport since 2012.

“Liberty’s flight training is one of the best around, and I’m glad that I did it here,” he said. “The teachers and the Liberty experience in general, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

School of Aeronautics Dean Steven Brinly was one of Welch’s flight instructors, conducting his instrument and commercial training in the late 2000s.

“I had the opportunity to instruct Lance when he was a student, so to see him as the captain for a football charter makes me proud,” Brinly said. “To have both pilots be Liberty alumni is a special treat. Welch and Torres are excellent examples of Champions for Christ serving in the aerospace industry.”

Torres, who flew helicopters for the U.S. Army, earned an interdisciplinary studies degree through Liberty University Online Programs from his home in California. He attended a Flames Football game in 2018 and Liberty’s Commencement in 2019. He wore his red, white, and blue Liberty Flames socks for his stop in Lynchburg on Friday.

“Lance, our captain, bid for this trip, and for me, it just landed on my lap,” he said. “As alumni, getting to do this together is super exciting.”

Liberty Football Chief of Staff Brad Queen said the Flames have flown with Allegiant since he joined the program in 2023.

“It’s awesome to have that connection and to see what the School of Aeronautics does in turning out pilots, and to see two of them in the real world doing what they set out to do 15 years ago,” Queen said.

“They do a great job,” Queen said of Allegiant’s pilots and crew as well as those administrating the flights. “They are very dependable, with good quality airplanes, and plenty of space.”

In February 2024, Liberty’s School of Aeronautics joined Allegiant Airlines’ pilot pathway program, Accelerate. The program is designed specifically for university students looking to make the transition to careers as professional pilots.

Currently, there are approximately 70 student-pilots from Liberty’s residential and online programs in Accelerate. Some are cadets and some have received conditional job offers. That includes fourth- and third-year Liberty flight instructors Paul Fairchild and Payton Smith (’18), who also had the chance to meet the pilots on Friday afternoon.