Market Intelligence: -Airline Hiring

European Flight Academy, the flight school of Lufthansa Group and a brand of Lufthansa Aviation Training, inducted 19 new students in January 2024 – who are set to begin their flight training journey in Bremen, Germany.

Back in March 2023 Lufthansa Aviation Training GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Group and operator of the European Flight Academy flight school (EFA) announced an upgrading offering with a value proposition with its “Take-off-Promise.” Student pilots at EFA will receive an offer for a cockpit contract by a Lufthansa Group airline at the latest 24 months after completion of their training. Should an offer not be possible, 50% of the training costs will be reimbursed. This commitment is included in the contracts in a binding manner and with immediate effect and also applies to the courses that have already started their training after the new start of the flight school last year.

Matthias Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa Aviation Training GmbH: “We are so convinced of the good prospects that the pilot training at the European Flight Academy provides that we bring our “Take-off-Promise” to market. Not only does it provide our student pilots with fair and predictable prospects for an appealing job in the cockpit, but it simultaneously also provides investment security for the training costs. The impressive numbers of participants and the feedback we received at trade shows and our informational events show us that the job of a pilot has not lost any of its fascination and instead continues to be a dream career goal for many young people.”

Training schedule

The training at the European Flight Academy is approximately 24 months long, and while its theoretical part takes place in Bremen/DE or Zurich/CH, the practical training is set to take place at locations in Goodyear/USA, Grenchen/CH, and Rostock-Laage, respectively. In order to guarantee the highest standards in quality and safety, a modern and standardized training fleet consisting of aircraft by the manufacturer Diamond is used for the practical training in Europe. In the USA, a modern fleet of the Cirrus SR20 aircraft will be flown.

Expansion of included services

From now on, the training costs will include a comprehensive package of services. The costs now cover air travel and transfer to the USA as well as the accommodation during the practical training in Goodyear, Arizona. The training costs for the training in Germany are adjusted from EUR 105,000 to EUR 110,000, and for Switzerland they are adjusted from CHF 135,000 to CHF 140,000. The training is set up as a self-pay model, as is internationally customary. The costs will be invoiced step by step in line with the training progress.

Financing

In addition to purely private financing, third-party financing partners will also be available for the training at the European Flight Academy – so that the dream job does not have to remain a dream. Among other things, these partners offer an innovative model of what is called an income-share agreement via an education fund. This means that former student pilots pay back a fixed percentage of their income once they have taken up employment. The specific, individual repayment amount is contingent upon the income level – the higher the salary, the higher the repayment amount will be, and vice versa (principle of solidarity).

Additionally, third-party partners will also offer traditional financing for the pilot training at attractive terms.

Source: European Flight Academy